Everton of England midfielder, Alex Iwobi is bound to become the next Nigerian player to feature under Spanish football tactician, Rafael Benitez, megasportsarena.com reports.
Nigerian players who have starred under Benitez include Victor Moses and John Mikel Obi at Chelsea as well as Dominic Solanke and Sheyi Ojo at Liverpool, and the next in line is bound to be Iwobi.
This is sequel to a report out of Queensland indicating that Iwobi and his teammates at Goodison Park are on the verge of seeing the arrival of Benitez, following positive talks with the club’s board.
Sky Sports News added that the Spaniard, who has been out of work since leaving Chinese side Dalian Yifang of China in January, was the number one choice of the Everton hierarchy up till Thursday morning.
The former Liverpool and Chelsea manager is close to return to the Premier League two years after he left Newcastle United.
Everton had also been in talks with Wolverhampton Wanderers’ former gaffer, Nuno Espirito Santo over becoming Carlo Ancelotti’s successor.
Ancelotti left his role as manager to return to Real Madrid earlier this month after 18 months at Goodison Park, having guided The Toffees to a 10th-placed finish in the English Premier League this season.
Former Super Eagles’ captain, Joseph Yobo’s mentor in his days at Everton, David Moyes was also initially understood to be a frontrunner to take over The Toffees ahead of next season, before he signed a new contract with West Ham United.
That has set the stage for Iwobi to play under Benitez, who managed Everton’s local rivals, Liverpool from 2004 to 2010 and lifted the UEFA Champions League, English FA Cup and European Super Cup during his time at Anfield.
Iwobi’s incoming coach also joined Chelsea on an interim basis in 2012 and went on to win the UEFA Europa League and guide the Blues to a third-place finish in the English Premier League that season.
