Memphis Depay has notified national coach Ronald Koeman of his unavailability. The 29-year-old attacker of Atlético Madrid is not fit in time for the final round of the Nations League due to an injury.
Nations League final round comes too early for Memphis
The Orange will play the semi-final against Croatia on Wednesday, June 14. Memphis has informed Koeman that that match comes too early for him. Due to an injury, the 88-time international has not played for Atlético since April 30, when he participated as a substitute against Real Valladolid (2-5) for eleven minutes. These were his only playing minutes in a club context since the previous international period, when Memphis still participated in the first two European Championship qualifying matches with France (4-0) and Gibraltar (3-0).
Memphis can therefore already focus on the new season, now that he has opted out of the training camp of the Dutch national team. Due to the loss of the attack leader of Orange, the selection of Koeman still consists of 25 players, two of whom the national coach has to drop in the run-up to the semi-final against Croatia. A large part of the internationals will gather in Zeist on Monday afternoon, with the exception of Champions League finalists Nathan Aké and Denzel Dumfries.
Frank de Boer has a new job
Speaking of Orange, Frank de Boer has a new job as a trainer. The Dutch coach will start working for Al-Jazira, from the United Arab Emirates. The club officially announced this on Monday. This makes De Boer the successor of Marcel Keizer.
De Boer has been without a club since the summer of 2021. He left after a failed European Championship as national coach of the Dutch national team and then kept the boat off for a while. The 51-year-old trainer is now ready for a new adventure. He found that with the number five of last season of the UAE Pro League.
De Boer takes over from compatriot Keizer, who was at the helm of Al-Jazira from October 2019. He will leave the club next summer. After Henk ten Cate, Damien Hertog, Jurgen Streppel and Keizer. De Boer is the club’s fifth Dutch coach in a row.
At Al-Jazira, De Boer is reunited with midfielder Thulani Serero, with whom he already worked at Ajax in the past. De Boer became national champion four times with the Amsterdam top club. He later worked for Internazionale, Crystal Palace and Atlanta United.
