Arne Slot confirms talks over vacant Netherlands job but commits to 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Slot denied reports he had withdrawn from talks with the KNVB (Royal Dutch Football Association) after a dispute over his contract.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past few days, various reports have appeared regarding the vacancy at the Dutch national team, suggesting that I had withdrawn from the process after lengthy negotiations, including regarding salary and contract duration," Slot told Voetbal International.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."