Chelle: My Dream is to be First African to Coach Real Madrid

*Opens up on the spat between Osimhen and Lookman at AFCON 2025

Duro Ikhazuagbe  with agency report

Super Eagles Head Coach, Eric Chelle,  48, has said that his dream is to be the first African to coach Real Madrid.

Real Madrid have won the UEFA Champions League 15 times, making the Spanish team the most successful team in the topmost club competition ever.

Speaking with RMC Sport, a Paris-based premier French sports  broadcaster owned by NextRadioTV yesterday, Chelle said: “My biggest dream? To become Real Madrid’s first-ever African coach.” 

Franco-Malian Chelle took over the Nigerian job in January 2025 after the Super Eagles started the 2026 World Cup qualifiers badly. Although he failed to grab the ticket for Nigeria, he led the squad to the African playoffs after finishing as one of the best second-placed runners up teams. 

Eagles lost the playoffs in penalty shootouts to DR Congo in Morocco. Nigeria’s petition is waiting to be decided by FIFA this month if DR Congo were right to have used five players with dual nationalities, a situation opposed by the country’s constitution.

Chelle’s profile however took a jump after leading Super Eagles to the semi final of AFCON 2025 unbeaten in regulation time. Nigeria won the third placed bronze against a highly tested side like the Pharaohs of Egypt.

Since the, Chelle has been linked with a number of countries after the tournament in Morocco.

Chelle who started his coaching career with French Amateur side, Groupe Sportif Consolat in 2014, is a former defender also coached Mali from 2022 to 2024.

In that interview with the Paris-based media outfit, revealed what transpired between Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman during Nigeria’s Round of 16 clash with Mozambique in Morocco. There have been speculations that Osimhen was mad with the former Atalanta forward for refusing to pass to him when he was unmarked inside the box.

“On the pitch, there was a discussion with Lookman. Victor told him, ‘We need to stop playing in front of goal.’ Things got a little heated, a minor altercation, but that’s part of locker room life,” revealed Chelle.

“At the end of the match, he (Osimhen) went home upset; he needed time to calm down. And once he did, he became the Victor we know again.

“There was never any question of him not playing against Algeria (AFCON quarterfinal), never.

“What happens in the locker room stays in the locker room. I didn’t even need to intervene. We went back to the hotel, they talked it over, and that was it.

He continued: “In front of goal, those two guys are top-level.

“Even better, this tension would almost make sense when you’re talking about two strikers obsessed with scoring.

“In front of goal, those two guys are top-level. Victor is a machine. If he doesn’t do his specific striker drills, if he doesn’t score in training, it drives him crazy. He wants to win everything. For him, it’s not a funfair. Lookman is the same, but calmer.

“Frankly, I’ve seen strikers, but to strike the ball like they do, right foot, left foot… that’s a very, very high level,” concludes the Super Eagles handlers.