The Portugal boss is facing a big call with the World Cup just around the corner
08:39, 26 Feb 2026Updated 08:56, 26 Feb 2026
Roberto Martinez appears on The Overlap
Portugal boss Roberto Martinez insists a club would have to offer the “right project” for him to leave international football.
His comments come with Martinez among the bookies’ favourites to be named next Celtic boss when Martin O’Neill leaves in the summer. He has a long-standing relationship with current Parkhead No.2 Shaun Maloney having signed him at Wigan before bringing him in as a coach for Belgium.
Maloney has revealed that he has held talks with his mentor. However, he insisted that the chats were based on the upcoming World Cup in North America.
The former Wigan and Everton boss made an appearance on The Overlap, and the Spaniard was put on the spot about his future. Gary Neville asked the 52-year-old if he wants to return to club management “at some point”.
Martinez said: “I don’t know, that’s the truth. I can never plan my career. I could never imagine what I have experienced. So, I have always been that when it’s the right time, it’s the right project.”
Former Celtic and Manchester United midfielder Roy Keane chimed in with a potential timeline: “If you win the World Cup? Come back a World Cup winner…”
Martinez responded: “Well, I think it’s the project. It’s not about a club, or I would like to manage here.
“No, it’s about that board and that they believe in your work, and what is the project behind it.
Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo with manager Roberto Martinez
“Now, I do feel when I speak to young coaches I say, ‘if you can work at international level, it makes you complete’.
“Club football is so ‘forward, forward, forward’, with international football you need to prioritise.
“You can’t work at everything, you have three days. So everything becomes very specific. International football is about clarity.”
Parkhead icon O’Neill is expected to leave his interim role in Glasgow’s East End following the conclusion of the Scottish Premiership campaign.
Motherwell boss Jens Berthel Askou is the odds-on for Parkhead in the summer after taking Scottish football by storm this term and turning the Steelmen into dark horses for the Premiership title.
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