Football
9y

Frank De Boer only looking to depart Ajax for 'interesting' alternative

Ajax coach Frank De Boer says he would only leave the club "for an interesting team."

De Boer has impressed during five seasons in charge of the Amsterdam outfit, winning the Eredivisie in each of his first four campaigns, although that run appears set to end with PSV Eindhoven in control of this year's title race.

The 44-year-old has been linked with a number of managerial posts elsewhere in recent years, including Premier League jobs at Liverpool, Newcastle and Tottenham, as well as at Ligue 1 club Monaco.

As a former Barcelona defender he has also been mentioned as a likely future boss of the Catalan club, and some reports had him as favourite to replace current coach Luis Enrique when it seemed his job might become available during January's reported turmoil at the Camp Nou.

With further speculation around the Barca job likely during the summer's looming presidential election, De Boer has told Marca that at the moment he is focusing on continuing his work with Ajax.

"I am not currently concerned about being a coach in Spain or any other country," De Boer said. "I want to concentrate on Ajax and later we will see. I am very happy here as I have a contract until 2017. We have a team with a lot of talent, next year they will have more experience. I will only leave for an interesting team."

De Boer said he enjoyed seeing how Barca were currently playing under his former Blaugrana teammate Luis Enrique's guidance.

"I like watching Barca at the moment," he said. "They are playing well, you can see they are in good form. I can see in the face of the players they have confidence and are enjoying playing together."

Although Ajax won 3-1 at PSV last weekend, De Boer's side remain 11 points behind Phillip Cocu's team in the Eredivisie with just nine games left to play.

"Our focus is on second place," De Boer said. "We are on a good run but they are also in very good form. Plus, we have been unlucky with some results."

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