Slot pulls out of Netherlands talks to focus on club football

Former Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has confirmed he held talks over the vacant Netherlands job but withdrew because he wants his next job to be in club football. The Dutchman, 47, guided the Reds to their 20th league title in his debut season but finished fifth in the Premier League and was sacked on 30 May. Ronald Koeman stepped down from his second spell as Netherlands manager after they were knocked out of the World Cup by Morocco in the last-32 penalty shootout in June. Slot denied reports he had withdrawn from talks with the KNVB (Royal Dutch Football Association) after a dispute over his contract. "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past few days, various reports have appeared regarding the vacancy at the Dutch national team, suggesting that I had withdrawn from the process after lengthy negotiations, including regarding salary and contract duration," Slot told Voetbal International. "That speculation is incorrect. We simply never reached that stage of the talks." Slot, who won the Eredivisie with Feyenoord in 2023, did not rule out taking over the national team in the future. "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," he said. "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." He added: "It would be a great honour to represent my country as national coach one day. However, this was not the right moment for me." Former Portugal manager Roberto Martinez is now in talks with the KNVB, according to reports in the Netherlands. Why is the Dutch managerial search taking so long? The Netherlands begin their 2026-27 Nations League campaign against Germany in Amsterdam on 24 September - just 43 days away - yet Koeman's successor has still not been appointed. That increasingly stands out when compared with other major European nations that changed manager after this summer's World Cup. Germany took 21 days to appoint Jurgen Klopp after Julian Nagelsmann stepped down. Portugal appointed Jorge Jesus three days after Martinez's exit, while France and Belgium had already announced Zinedine Zidane and Mark van Bommel respectively before Didier Deschamps and Rudi Garcia formally departed. The Netherlands, meanwhile, are 43 days into their search. Historically, that is not especially unusual. Of the 14 previous Dutch managerial changes following major tournaments since 1974, 11 took longer than the current wait, with an average gap of 64 days. But recent appointments have generally been much quicker. The previous three post-tournament changes were all completed within 40 days: Guus Hiddink replaced Louis van Gaal after one day in 2014, Van Gaal returned 36 days after Frank de Boer left following Euro 2020, and Koeman was confirmed as Van Gaal's successor 23 days after the 2022 World Cup. Those latter two searches were also relatively straightforward, with former managers of the country available to return. This time the picture is more complicated. The KNVB has already missed out on its preferred candidate and there is no similarly obvious alternative. Every further week without an appointment reduces the new manager's preparation time before their Nations League opener against Germany, whose own new coach Klopp officially takes charge on 15 August. The Dutch have historically been prepared to wait. This time, the calendar is beginning to work against them. More on this story