Steven Bergwijn sends explosive message to Ronald Koeman after boss ends his Netherlands career

Steven Bergwijn has blasted Netherlands boss Ronald Koeman after the Dutch coach placed the forward into international exile.

The former Everton and Barcelona manager revealed that Bergwijn would no longer be under consideration for a place in the national side after completing a transfer to the Saudi Pro League. Former Spurs star Bergwijn completed a move from Ajax to Al-Ittihad late in the transfer window.

The 26-year-old was left out of Koeman's squad to face Bosnia and Herzegovina and Germany and now faces the prospect of not representing his nation for the forseeable future. Koeman rubbished the notion that Bergwijn had sporting ambitions on his mind when making the move.

"Steven Bergwijn goes to Saudi Arabia at the age of 26," he said. "It's clear that this has nothing to do with sporting ambition. His book with the Dutch National Team is closed."

Bergwijn has not hit back however, suggesting he does not want to play under Koeman, whose current contract runs until after the 2026 World Cup.

"Yes, of course. It's sad to hear," he told De Telegraaf. "Naturally. I have always considered it an honor to play for the Dutch team. But under this national coach I don't want that anymore.

"I'm done with someone who deliberately portrays me this way in the media. But who knows if a new national coach will come in the future. I myself will never close the door. And I will only support my teammates at Oranje, just like they do for me."

Bergwijn questioned Koeman's decision not to speak to him first before making his comments to the media. The 35-times capped player question the coach's commitment.

"If he had been a committed national coach, he would have called me first," he said. "Now I had to hear it from the TV. I have also experienced many wonderful moments with the national coach, so this is too easy and I am disappointed with him."

“It's just a fact," he added. "Because he previously had a public opinion about Brobbey, which was also not nice and which he later said was not useful. That's not how you treat your own players. If he continues like this, he will lose all his credibility."

Bergwijn went on to rubbish Koeman's claims that he had no spoting ambitions in making the move. The attacker suggested the Saudi Pro League was stronger than the Eredivisie.

The ex-Ajax star said: "The fact that he said it was not a sporting step, blablabla. I can assure him that the competition in Saudi Arabia is better than that in the Netherlands. See which top players play football there. And in the preparation Al-Ittihad won against Internazionale.

"So one player has to leave the Eredivisie to further develop and I have to stay? Correct. The national coach knows very well that the competition in Saudi Arabia is at an excellent level. Kanté has been playing there for a year and was the best man against the Dutch team at the European Championship. And Aymeric Laporte, who went from Manchester City to Al-Nassr in 2023, became European champion with Spain."

Koeman had earlier defended his decision to continue utilising Georginio Wijnaldum when he moved to the league. The ex-Newcastle and Liverpool midfielder left Paris Saint-German to join Al-Ettifaq in 2023.

Georginio Wijnaldum once went that way because he had a problem at Paris Saint-Germain," Koeman explained. "He could only go to that country to play football until January. In Bergwijn's case is that he goes at the age of 26, sporting ambition does not prevail."

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