Reports from ESPN bracketed Arnold with Hibernian - home to Socceroos Mark Milligan, Martin Boyle and Jamie Maclaren (loan) - with current coach Neil Lennon seemingly on the way out.
However, Nikou, who was part of the board that appointed Arnold six months ago with a contract up until the 2022 FIFA World Cup - isn’t expecting him to make a premature exit.
Asked of the possibility of a quick return to clubland for the 55-year-old in the wake of Australia’s AFC Asian Cup quarter-final loss to UAE, Nikou said: “It’s news to us certainly. Graham has a contract which we expect him to honour.
“It’s hard to assess, in fairness to Graham (his performance) at the Asian Cup because he didn’t have all the players available to him (through injuries).
“We’ve just appointed Graham and World Cup qualification is the main KPI (key performance indicator) and that’s where the focus needs to be.”
Arnold has drawn criticism from some for Australia’s displays in the UAE, but while the inquest continues he has other matters at hand in the form of preparing Australia’s under-23s for their Japan 2020 Olympic Games qualification campaign.
In his dual role as Socceroos and Olyroos coach, Arnold has already put in plenty of preparatory work for the initial stage of qualifying - a three-game campaign in Cambodia in late March, against Cambodia, Chinese Taipai and Korea Republic.
Nikou attended Australia’s Asian Cup opener - the 1-0 loss to Jordan - before returning to Melbourne.
“It was a learning curve for the players - and they will take a lot from that and go again,” added Nikou. “We expect them to continue to do Australia proud.
"It’s always good to see the next generation coming through, (players like) Awer Mabil who is an exciting talent.
“We’re going through a bit of a transition with the likes of Mile (Jedinak) and Tim Cahill departing and need that next generation, and it was unfortunate that Daniel Arzani copped an injury (and missed the Asian Cup along with Boyle and Aaron Mooy).
“If those young players can come through, then we can have plenty to be excited about.”
While it seems Arnold will remain at the helm, Nikou reiterated the board’s intention to appoint a successor to controversially axed Matildas coach Alen Stajcic by mid-February.
“We’ve got an open mind whether (the successful candidate) will be male or female, domestic or international, they’ve all got pluses and minuses,” he added.
Nikou and his board have been under siege over the lack of clarity surrounding Stajcic’s shock removal five months out from the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, other than simply depicting it as the result of him presiding over a “toxic culture”.
“I get that and have tried to share as much as I can within the straitjacket which has been put on me (regarding contractual commercial in confidence) without exposing FFA to further issues,” he stated.
“But as I’ve previously said it was the right call last week and it still remains the right call.
“The reality is that this is a very talented group of women footballers.
“Once they regroup and go through the (upcoming) Four Nations tournament, all things being equal you’d expect them to go deep into the tournament at the World Cup (in France in June).”
