The 48-year-old has been out of work since leaving Royal Antwerp who he led to their first title in 66 years

14:08, 03 Nov 2025Updated 19:33, 03 Nov 2025

Mark van Bommel(Image: Belga/AFP via Getty Images)

Dutch legend Mark van Bommel turned down the opportunity to succeed Brendan Rodgers at Celtic, according to reports in his native Netherlands.

The 48-year-old, who recently revealed he held talks with Rangers before Russell Martin was appointed as manager, is said to have passed the chance at the Hoops along with three other megabucks managerial opportunities in the Middle East.

Celtic are on the hunt for a permanent successor to Rodgers after his shock departure last week with veteran interim boss Martin O’Neill coming in to steady the ship at Parkhead.

Respected outlet De Telegraaf say that Van Bommel “turned down” Celtic along with three unnamed clubs in the Middles East. They quote his agent Jose Fortes Rodriguez in the story.

And the reason for the rejection, they say, is so he can stay closer to his son Ruben, the winger who plays for his dad’s former club PSV Eindhoven after signing from AZ Alkmaar, after he suffered a serious cruciate ligament injury. Van Bommel wants to his family first.

Van Bommel has been out of the dug-out since leaving Royal Antwerp last year after leading them to their first Belgian title in 66 years. He has also had spells in charge of PSV and Wolfsburg.

He had an illustrious playing career with European giants PSV, Barcelona, AC Milan, Bayern Munich as well as being capped 79 times for the Netherlands and was a 2010 World Cup finalists.

Speaking earlier this season to Jim White on talkSPORT he was asked if he was in the running to take over at Rangers in the summer and said: “Yeah, there were some talks (to become the manager), but not directly to the board of Rangers.”

Asked if he would you have liked the job, Champions League winner Van Bommel noted the long-standing Dutch connection with the Glasgow giants.

He said: “It’s kind of the Dutch team – with a lot of Dutch players and also (Dick) Advocaat. I played against them once with PSV. The atmosphere is unbelievable. The Scottish league for me is a good league, and it’s a challenge to become champion and play in Europe.”