Slot Walks From Netherlands Talks, Eyes Club Return
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- Arne Slot confirmed he held talks over the vacant Netherlands national team job but pulled out because he wants his next role in club football, denying reports the breakdown was over salary or contract length.
- Slot, 47, guided Liverpool to their 20th league title in his debut season but was sacked on 30 May after the club finished fifth in the Premier League the following campaign.
- Ronald Koeman stepped down from his second spell as Netherlands manager after the team were knocked out of the World Cup by Morocco in a last-32 penalty shootout in June.
- Slot told Voetbal International that "we simply never reached that stage of the talks," rejecting speculation he had walked away from the KNVB after a dispute over his contract.
- Slot, who won the Eredivisie with Feyenoord in 2023, said he prefers "the training pitch with my players every day," adding that "for now, I believe that club football still has a lot to offer me."
- Slot did not rule out a future role with the Netherlands, calling it "a great honour" but adding "this was not the right moment for me."
- Roberto Martinez, the former Portugal manager, is now in talks with the KNVB according to reports in the Netherlands.
Why it matters: Slot's exit shifts the KNVB's search away from a homecoming candidate with a Premier League title on his CV and toward former Portugal boss Roberto Martinez, who is now in reported talks. By framing the rejection as a preference for daily club coaching rather than contract terms, Slot keeps his options open for another top-flight job while leaving the door unlocked for a future national-team role.
Ask SkimNews
