Former Katsina United coach Henry Makinwa is poised for a return to the Nigeria Premier Football League if he gets “the right offer,” PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
The ex-international, who has a UEFA A, UEFA B and UEFA Pro coaching badges from the Spanish FA, coached in the NPFL for five seasons with Abia Warriors and Katsina United after sensationally leading ABS FC from the second tier NNL to the topflight league in 2016.
“I always want to coach in Nigeria and contribute my quota to the domestic league. I previously spent five years in the Nigerian league and promoted ABS FC to the Premier League from the second division. As head coach of Katsina United FC, I helped them place fifth in the NPFL, their best ever position in their history. Of course, if I get the right offer, I’ll return,” Makinwa told our correspondent.
Makinwa staged a return to coaching classes since he took a break from the game and believes he is now better equipped to return to the dugout.
“I had four refresher courses in 2023/24, so, I’m fully updated on new European and global concepts about football coaching.”
The retired striker, who played for 17 clubs across 11 countries and three continents, was one of the applicants for the Eagles coaching job after Portuguese Jose Peseiro’s exit last January.
In an interview with The PUNCH in March, after applying for the Eagles job, Makinwa rated NPFL players high, saying he would build a strong team of players from the domestic league to complement the overseas-based stars in the team, if appointed the national team coach.
“I will gradually inculcate the raw talents we have in the NPFL into the mainstream of the team (Eagles),” Makinwa told our correspondent in March.
“I will also select local boys in two groups of 20 players each; one group will be in the north and the other in the south and they will train every fortnight.
“We will be able to have an identity of play if we train throughout the year. The foreign-based players that will join us will be top-level.”
