I'm Not Surprised About Rise Of Emenalo - Former Chelsea Boss

I'm Not Surprised About Rise Of Emenalo - Former Chelsea Boss

Sampson Adedeji

Former Chelsea Manager Avram Grant has said he is not surprised about the rise of the former Nigeria International Mike Emenalo, BSNSports.com.ng reports.

Former Super Eagles left back worked with the English Premier League side Chelsea as Chief Scout from 2007 before becoming the Technical Director in 2011.

He left Stamford Bridge in 2017 and worked with the French Ligue One side AS Monaco.

Emenalo was appointed as the Saudi Arabia Pro League Sporting Director last week and Zambian head coach said he was not surprised about the development.

"Mike has made the most of the opportunities he has got. And I’m not surprised, as he’s a very intelligent man.

He was my player at Maccabi in the Israeli League for two years and I actually wanted him to be my assistant coach there before he had a personal tragedy.

“When I was later at Chelsea and I recommended that the club take him on as a scout, there was so much opposition to it. Some people wanted to kill me. Not because of his colour, as many people think, but because of his lack of experience.

But Roman Abramovich asked me whether I truly believed in him and I said that I did. 

He then said that if I believed in him he would be brought to the club. And Mike did a fantastic job.

“You can give a man a chance but he has to make the most of his opportunities", he told Osasuo Obayiuwana.