Ronald Koeman: ‘Luuk de Jong will definitely not return to the Dutch team’

PSV striker Luuk de Jong will definitely not return to the Dutch national team. National coach Ronald Koeman said this in the ESPN program Goedemorgen Eredivisie.

Luuk de Jong previously indicated that he no longer wanted to play in the Dutch team because he wanted to spend more time with his family. “He’s getting a year older, etcetera, etcetera,” Koeman said. “I thought that was a shame,” said the national coach, who indicated that he was at peace with it.

“After that, Luuk himself left the door ajar in the media. I called him to ask if that was the case. That was not the case. Then I told him to call me if he wanted to make himself available once more, but that is now a passé station. It is no different,” said Koeman.

The fact that former PSV player Memphis Depay has returned from injuries is good for Koeman: “I often have contact with Memphis because he was of course very important in my first period. You see him getting fitter. He is a player with extra qualities, who was and can be decisive for us. He can also play on the left.”

But Depay will not necessarily be his first striker at the upcoming European Championship. The national coach does not yet know who that will be. “I have to speak to the players first before I can say whether it will be Wout Weghorst or Brian Brobbey.”