Olofinjana and Finidi being lined up as new Flying Eagles and Golden Eaglets head coaches

FORMER Super Eagles Seyi Olofinjana and Finidi George have emerged as favourites to be appointed as the head coaches of the Flying eagles and Golden Eaglets respectively as the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) ponders on how to fill both vacancies.

With Nigeria's youth teams performing below par of late, the NFF has decided to appoint fresh faces to manage them in an attempt to recapture some of their past glory. Nigeria's Flying eagles have twice got to the final of the Fifa U20 World Cup, while the Golden Eaglets have won the U17 World Cup a record five times.

As part of its plans to returns the teams to winning ways, the NFF is considering appointing the two former English Premier League players as their head coaches. Olofinjana featured for Wolverhampton Wanderers and Stoke City, while Finidi played in the English Premier League with Ipswich Town.

Olofinjana currently works as the manager of players sent on loan by Wolves and he will push to retain his job with the club even if he is appointed by the NFF when the list of the successful coaches is announced next year. Finidi for his part is a former Mallorca and Real Betis B youth team coach.

Already, the NFF has decided to retain the services of Salisu Yusuf as the coach of the U23 team following his return from suspension for his involvement in a bribery ‎scandal regarding players selection. He will keep his dual role as the head coach of the Super Eagles B team and as assistant to head coach Gernot Rohr.

The process of bringing him back into the system has already started with his secondment to Enugu Rangers by the NFF. Coach Yusuf took over from Bennedict Ugwu after Rangers sacked him and asked the NFF for a replacement.