Thierry Henry would not have sent his CV to the Belgian football federation.
The media presented him as one of the main candidates for the succession of Roberto Martinez, but the former Arsenal striker assures that he did not apply for the position of coach of the Red Devils.
Thierry Henry has denied reports he contacted the Belgian FA regarding the vacant national team manager position ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/xRN1DCz8iT
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) January 10, 2023
"I want to make it clear that, contrary to what has been written, I never contacted the Belgian football federation to offer my services as a coach.
I think it is important that the true version of the facts is presented,” he said in a statement sent to Sky Sports.
The former coach of AS Monaco is however very close to the selection.
He was Martinez's assistant from 2016 to 2018 before returning in 2020 and had made up for the absence of the new Portugal coach, suspended for one match against the Netherlands.
The Spaniard was ejected after Belgium's failure at the 2022 World Cup. Despite Henry's presence on the bench, Romelu Lukaku and his partners failed to extricate themselves from the group stage in Qatar.
In the process, the Belgian federation had sent out a job offer in order to find its new coach.
Het Nieuwsblad has also reported that Hervé Renard, former coach of Saudi Arabia, would have applied.
Lukaku, Toby Alderweireld or Lensois Loïs Openda said they were in favor of Henry's arrival at the helm.
“I am for it, as some players have said in the media, because he is someone who already knows the team, who has a good mentality, judged the artesian striker at a press conference.
He has experience and I think we need someone who has (…) I have good contacts with him.
I'm learning because I know he was a very great striker.
I follow the advice he gave me.