Former Netherlands coach Frank de Boer has backed Arne Slot’s decision to turn down Leeds United, believing it was a logical choice to make.
Slot found himself at the top of Leeds’ target of replacements for Jesse Marsch this week after the Whites had failed to convince Rayo Vallecano manager Andoni Iraola to make the switch to Elland Road.
Like the Spaniard, though, he elected to remain where he is, revealing in a press conference yesterday that despite Leeds being in touch he intended to finish the job he was doing at Feyenoord.
He’s impressed at the Dutch side since his arrival and has then at the top of the Eredivisie this season, ahead of bigger and more financially powerful clubs such as Ajax and PSV Eindhoven.
It is that achievement which had Leeds looking to hire him as their next manager but De Boer believes rejecting that switch was a smart one.
“I think so,” he told ViaPlay, relayed by Voetbal International, when asked if the decision was a ‘logical’ one.
“Of course, it’s a great challenge for him, that means he’s in a very good position. But I can imagine he’s not ready at Feyenoord yet.
“Maybe there is still something nice in store. I wouldn’t have done it either, but it is tempting.”
Indeed, both he and fellow panellist John van‘t Schip believe more opportunities may be on the way for Slot if he continues to impress as he has at Feyenoord in the future.
“He proves it every time. They just play good football, and he still manages to make it a good end,” he stated.
“If you see what he is doing with Feyenoord now…. There is not much money, but they make targeted purchases.
“Of course they do it together, with the people around them, but he also makes them play in a way that appeals. And that doesn’t go unnoticed.
“Also, because Ten Hag has done well at Ajax and is doing quite well at Manchester United. That also gives Dutch trainers another boost, I think,” added De Boer.
