New Belgium boss Roberto Martinez turned down £34m offer from China after being sacked by Everton
Roberto Martinez skipped the exodus of managers and players to Asia before agreeing to become Belgium's new boss
ROBERTO MARTINEZ turned down a £34m to manage in China before becoming Belgium boss after being sacked by Everton.
The father of the Spaniard claims that his son turned down the offer to work in the Far East for mega money and the deal only fell through because Martinez was not allowed to take his own staff with him to the Chinese Super League.
Roberto Snr claimed: “Robert works in a team. He went to talk in China where he could have earned €40m in two years!
"But he had to go there alone and he refused. Without his team, it was just not possible for him. To begin with, the Belgium Federation had also asked him to work along.
"Shortly after, they said he could bring an assistant and finally, he brought in a trainer and a goalkeeper's coach. They are people who he trusts and are very important to him.”
Martinez has brought in Arsenal Legend Thierry Henry as his assistant after the former Barcelona and France striker was snubbed by his beloved Arsenal for a coaching role.
The pairs first game in charge of the Belgium national team comes Thursday night when they take on Spain in a friendly and then travel to Cyprus to open their World Cup 2018 qualifying campaign on the 6th September.