Pinnick Says Yobo’s Appointment is Not Different To That Of Former Arsenal Star

The former Everton defender’s appointment as Nigeria’s national team assistant manager has received a lot of criticism, but Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) president, Amaju Pinnick has once again defended the decision. 

Joseph Yobo was appointed as Gernot Rohr’s number two, but it did not go down well with a lot of of people including former Super Eagles star, Celestine Babayaro who questioned Yobo’s credentials.

However, Pinnick insists the decision is a right one, comparing Yobo’s appointment to that of his former Everton teammate, Mikel Arteta, at Arsenal.

Arteta and Yobo were teammates at the Goodison Park before the Spaniard moved to Arsenal in 2011. He played for five years with the Gunners before retiring in 2016.

Following his retirement, Arteta moved into management, and he became an assistant to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.  He returned to Arsenal as their head coach in December 2019 after Unai Emery was sacked as the Gunners manager.

Having seen Arteta’s journey into management, Pinnick also expects Yobo to take a similar route with his appointment as Super Eagles assistant manager.

The NFF president made this claim in an interview with HipTv, saying the only difference between Arteta and Yobo is their skin colour.