Roberto Martínez arrives in Portugal on Monday
Roberto Martínez lands in Lisbon this Monday to negotiate, with Fernando Gomes, the contract that will lead him to be the new national coach.
Spanish radio Cadena Ser reports that Martínez had a proposal to return to Everton, but his preference lies with Portugal.
According to “The Athletic”, the former Belgian coach will already have a verbal agreement with the Portuguese Football Federation to succeed Fernando Santos, who agreed to terminate his contract after the elimination of the 2022 World Cup.
Roberto Martínez has been free on the market since leaving the Belgium national team after the World Cup in Qatar. The Spaniard guided that team for eight years and, despite not having won any title, he kept Belgium at the top of the FIFA “ranking” for several years.
Before Belgium, Roberto Martínez was a club coach for several years, always in England: he passed through Everton, Wigan and Swansea City.
The 2022 World Cup also left Portugal without a coach. Fernando Santos paid for Morocco’s elimination in the quarterfinals.
José Mourinho has been appointed to the post insistentlyhowever, he has a contract with Roma until 2024 and the director general of the Italian club has already explained that he has the Portuguese coach for the future.
“It wasn’t the first time that another club or federation was interested in him. When you hire a coach like Mourinho, dozens of be prepared for these types of rumours. (…) I’m Portuguese, whenever Portugal changes selection, people talk But we are sure that José is still here as coach of Roma”, said Tiago Pinto, in an interview with “Gazzetta dello Sport”, published on Tuesday.
The national team only has its next game in March, at the start of qualifying for Euro 2024. Portugal receives Liechtenstein on March 23, a game that will mark the debut of the new coach.