Roberto Martinez has verbal agreement to take over Portugal national team

Mário Rui Ventura

Roberto Martinez, the 49-year-old Spanish coach who ended a six-year spell as Belgium coach at the World Cup 2022, already has a verbal agreement with the Portuguese Football Federation to become the next national team coach. The information was published this Saturday by The Athletic, after the Spanish coach's name was first mentioned the day before by The Telegraph.

Now, it seems, Roberto Martinez is close to being announced as Portugal's new manager, in a deal that, according to the same source, will be finalised by the end of the week.

The name of the former Belgium coach, it should be remembered, had been pointed out on Friday as being on the list of potential successors to Fernando Santos, headed since the beginning by Jose Mourinho.

Besides the national team, Roberto Martinez had other invitations, both from national teams and clubs, including the Premier League, but he will have given priority to the FPF project.

The former Swansea, Wigan and Everton coach left Belgium after achieving a 3rd place in the World Cup 2018 and a quarter-final at Euro 2020, having disappointed in the World Cup 2022, eliminated in the group stage behind Morocco and Croatia.

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