Arne Slot came far closer to becoming head coach of the Netherlands national team than previously known. According to Youri Mulder, the manager had virtually reached an agreement with the KNVB and had already identified John Heitinga as an assistant before ultimately pulling out at the last moment.
Speaking on Rondo on Ziggo Sport on Monday evening, Mulder revealed new details about the talks between Slot and the Dutch football association. "They basically already had Slot," said the former striker. "He was very far along and was already working on an assistant, Heitinga."
By the end of July, it had become clear that Slot would not become head coach. At the time, the 47-year-old manager said he preferred to remain in European club football for the time being, but according to Mulder a move to the Netherlands had looked all but done before that.
"At the last moment, for whatever reason, Slot said: no, I’m not doing it after all," Mulder continued. "But he was very far along in becoming head coach."
Wytse van der Goot then raised the possibility that a difference of opinion over the contract length may have played a part. "One of the stories is that it would be for two or four years," the presenter said.
Still, Mulder struggles to believe the length of the deal alone decided it. "If that’s the case, that would be even stranger. What’s wrong with two years? Then you’re not tied down for four years and after two years you can reassess."
He therefore believes more may have been behind Slot’s final decision. "I don’t think that was the only thing. I think that at some point he thought: I’m not doing it after all." Even Mulder does not know the exact reason for that change of heart.