Roberto Martinez’s agent has played down talk of his client taking over as the Netherlands’ head coach.
The role is currently vacant after Ronald Koeman walked away following Oranje’s disappointing World Cup campaign that saw them exit at the round of 32 stage against Morocco.
Koeman was widely criticised for a tactic of containment against the African champions in a break from the team’s traditional approach.
The Dutch Football Association (KNVB) has been linked with several names, including Arne Slot and Louis van Gaal, but Martinez is also reportedly a contender.
The 53-year-old has vast experience of international football after spells with Belgium and, most recently, Portugal but his representative Jesse De Preter believes the KNVB’s technical director Nigel De Jong will look elsewhere.
De Preter said: “If Nigel de Jong calls, we will talk. Traditionally, the KNVB goes for a Dutch coach and financially I suspect that the expectations are very far apart. I don’t see how this can be a deal.”
Martinez would buck trend if he succeeded Koeman as Netherlands boss
The Netherlands have not had a foreign coach for 48 years with Austrian Ernst Happel at the helm during their run to the 1978 World Cup final.
Martinez would be a controversial choice given his reputation for not making the most of working with talented squads.
He led Belgium’s Golden Generation to a third-placed finish at the 2018 World Cup but could only manage a quarter-final run at Euro 2020 and a group-stage exit at the 2022 World Cup.
Martinez subsequently took over as Portugal boss but his only success was the 2024/25 Nations League.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Co were knocked out of Euro 2024 at the quarter-final stage and the World Cup earlier this summer in the round of 16.
Slot rules himself out of Netherlands search
Slot was an early contender for the Netherlands role after being sacked by Liverpool at the end of last season.
But the former Feyenoord boss would rather focus on getting back into club management.
In an interview with Voetbal International, he said: “Over the past few weeks, and particularly the past few days, various reports have appeared regarding the vacancy at the Dutch national team, suggesting that I had withdrawn from the process after lengthy negotiations, including regarding salary and contract duration.
“That speculation is incorrect. We simply never reached that stage of the talks.
“At this stage of my career, I prefer to see myself on the training pitch with my players every day. Something that is simply not possible in the same way with a national team.
“And [this is] why I chose not to continue the talks and not to start negotiations on what a possible contract might look like.
“I have enormous respect for the national team and for the KNVB and can only be positive about the professional manner in which the talks proceeded that week.
“For now, I believe that club football still has a lot to offer me.
“It would be a great honour to represent my country as national coach one day. However, this was not the right moment for me.”
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