Ronald Koeman linked with Everton exit

Ronald Koeman is being linked with a move away from Everton, as the potential new coach of the Netherlands.

The Oranje failure to qualify for next summer’s World Cup in Russia was confirmed earlier this week as they finished third in Group A, behind France and Sweden.

It is the second straight major tournament that the Dutch have failed to qualify for, having missed out on Euro 2016 last summer, and continued the country’s fall from grace since reaching the World Cup final in 2010.

As a result a complete structural overhaul is being mooted, with that likely to start with the manager.

Dick Advocaat is currently in charge, having taken charge for the third time when he replaced Danny Blind earlier this year.

However, he is not thought to be a long-term appointment with it expected he will remain in charge for a series of friendlies before walking away ahead of the Euro 2020 qualifying campaign.

And Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf believes Koeman could be the man to replace him in that eventuality.

Koeman is still highly thought of in his homeland and has been linked with the national job on numerous occasions, indeed he was a suggested candidate before Advocaat’s appointment.

By the time qualifying starts he would be in the final months of his Everton deal, which expires in summer 2019, meaning the situation could be ideally set up for him to take charge.

Whether Koeman would be interested is another matter. It had often been thought of that the Dutchman sees Everton as a stepping-stone to a bigger job, which the Holland job certainly is.

However, he has resisted the opportunity to take charge before and there is every chance he would be hesitant to sign up in their current predicament.