Ajax boss Frank de Boer has told FourFourTwo he would be open to managing Liverpool or Tottenham Hotspur one day, having previously been courted by the pair.
The Dutch legend, who won five Eredivisie titles with Ajax as a player before guiding the Amsterdam giants to four league crowns as a manager, also lifted the Champions League trophy with his current club in 1995.
Together with Mauricio Pochettino I was the biggest candidate, and if they had chosen me, I would've done it. I believe you have to take risks, and have the conviction that you'll succeed
The 44-year-old's impressive credentials, plus penchant for a passing style of football, has seen him repeatedly linked with a move to the Premier League.
De Boer was tipped to become Liverpool boss back in 2012 ahead of Brendan Rodgers, and his name resurfaced in north London last summer as Spurs chairman Daniel Levy sought a successor for Tim Sherwood.
Neither move materialised, with the 112-cap Netherlands defender recently agreeing to remain at Ajax for another season despite talk of him becoming the next Newcastle United manager.
Speaking exclusively in the April 2015 issue of FourFourTwo, De Boer reveals he would have taken the Tottenham job had it been offered to him.
"Together with Mauricio Pochettino I was the biggest candidate, and if they had chosen me, I would've done it," he says in a One-on-One interview. "I believe you have to take risks, and have the conviction that you'll succeed.
There was potential interest from Monaco as well, but it wasn't something I was looking for at that moment. Liverpool and Spurs are clubs I could manage
"If I get an offer from a club in the future, I will consider the possibility and then follow my feeling. I look at whether it's a club where I think I can present myself well and where I'll be able to act in the way I like. Before, there was potential interest from Monaco as well, but it wasn't something I was looking for at that moment. Liverpool and Spurs are clubs I could manage.
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"At the time [in 2012], I felt I wasn't ready for a move abroad. I had just started at Ajax, and I was not finished here at all. Liverpool approached me in the same way Tottenham did this year, wanting to hold exploratory talks first."
Read the full One-on-One interview with Frank de Boer in the April 2015 issue of FourFourTwo, available in print and on iPad from Wednesday March 3, which also features exclusive interviews with Lionel Messi, Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez, reveals the findings from our Players' Poll of 123 current professionals and asks whether the away goals rule should be scrapped.
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Gregg Davies is the Chief Sub Editor of FourFourTwo magazine, joining the team in January 2008 and spending seven years working on the website. He supports non-league behemoths Hereford and commentates on Bulls matches for Radio Hereford FC. His passions include chocolate hobnobs and attempting to shoehorn Ronnie Radford into any office conversation.
