Portuguese national Costa had been in charge for two years but the country’s football federation were seemingly spooked by their tough 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying pool that includes Ivory Coast, Mali and Morocco.

They are now looking in a different direction and have the financial muscle to pull in a top name.

It was reported that Cosata was the best paid coach on the African continent, earning a reported 70,000 Euros (R1.12-million) per month.

Gabon will reportedly name a new manager on July 30, ahead of the start of the World Cup qualifiers in October and the Nations Cup finals in January.