Super Eagles and Al-Kholood defender, William Troost-Ekong, has heaped praise on former Chelsea and Monaco Technical Director, Michael Emenalo, Soccernet.ng reports.
The retired Super Eagles defender took on administrative roles after he stopped playing active football, and was a part of Chelsea's technical team that ensured their European success between 2012 and 2013.
Emenalo is now the Sporting Director of the Saudi Pro League, and Ekong commended the brilliance of the 59-year-old, stating his track record is worthy of emulation.
Get Our Sports News First – Join Our WhatsApp Channel Now!
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE;
“Michael is another person that I'll put down as maybe my modern idols now,” the 31-year-old told the Saudi Pro League in Ar Rass, in quotes revealed by One Football.
“[Michael's] background as a player, especially as a Super Eagles player, what he achieved at Chelsea, at Monaco, and now in the SPL, is something special, something you don't see very often.
“When we had a chance to meet, it was great to pick his brain, understand the process, how things work here. Who knows, maybe in the future I'd like to have a similar role beyond football.
“So he’s been great to really help me with that. He’s encouraging me to do more and to continue to play my best football, and it's great to have people like him involved in a project, which just adds to and validates what everyone's doing here.
“It's only going to help improve the standard year-by-year, because someone like Michael understands what it takes to run football at the highest level, and he's doing his best to implement that here, too,” Ekong concluded.
Emenalo's success with Chelsea
Emenalo joined Chelsea's coaching staff in 2007 as a Chief Scout under Avram Grant and was promoted to the assistant first team coach in 2010.
In that time, he restructured the club's strategy on their academy, scouting and loan systems whilst simultaneously being a helpful hand in creating the women's team.
A year later, he was promoted to the Technical Director role and oversaw the scouting and transfers of key players like Juan Mata, Thibaut Courtois, Kevin De Bruyne, N'Golo Kante, Cesc Fabregas, and Diego Costa.
