After helming Belgium and Portugal at successive FIFA World Cups, Spanish coach Roberto Martinez could be in line for another high-profile managerial assignment as he is in talks to take over the Dutch side.
The Orange are without a manager after Ronald Koeman stepped down in the wake of the Netherlands’ ouster at the hands of Morocco in the Round of 32 at the recent World Cup.
Nigel de Long, the former defensive midfielder who is now the technical director of the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB), has held talks with the 53-year-old Martinez in Malaga, De Telegraaf reported.
Prospects like former Liverpool manager Arne Slot, ex-Manchester United handler Erik ten Hag and current PSV Eindhoven coach Peter Bosz have dropped out of the race. Others said to be in contention were Michael Reiziger, the handler of the Dutch junior team, and Louis van Gaal, who had already taken charge of the national side on three previous occasions.
Martinez’s Portugal side bowed out of the 2026 World Cup to a late Mikel Merino goal in the Round of 16 game against eventual champions Spain, after which he stepped down. He had earlier guided them to the title in the 2025 UEFA Nations League. Martinez took Belgium to at third-place finish at the 2018 World Cup but failed to take them out of their group at Qatar 2022, after which he resigned. However, he had the distinction of taking the team to the top spot in the FIFA world rankings.
At the club level, his most high-profile stint was at Everton before being fired in 2016. Before that, he won the 2013 FA Cup with Wigan Athletic and League One with Swansea City in 2008.
If Martinez does get the Dutch job, it would be the first time since Austrian Ernst Happel took the team to the 1978 World Cup final that the Netherlands would have a foreign coach.
Slot, who took Liverpool to their 20th English title in his debut season in charge before being sacked after a string of poor results, said he was keen to coach in club football for the time being.
“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,” the 47-year-old who won the Dutch Eredevisie with Feyenoord in 2023, told Voetbal International.
“And (this is) why I chose not to continue the talks and not to start negotiations on what a possible contract might look like. For now, I believe that club football still has a lot to offer me.”
Slot, however, didn’t close the door on the top Dutch job forever.
“It would be a great honour to represent my country as national coach one day. However, this was not the right moment for me,” he added.