Ruud Gullit urges Ronald Koeman to call Luuk de Jong to discuss a return to the Netherlands national team | OneFootball

Former Netherlands national team midfielder Ruud Gullit has advised Ronald Koeman to speak to Luuk de Jong to discuss a return to the national team. De Jong, 33, announced his retirement from international football in March, but Gullit believes he’s the best Dutch striker at the moment.

A 93rd-minute penalty from Virgil van Dijk gave the Netherlands a 1-0 victory over Greece on Monday night. But on Ziggo Sport, the pundits discussed the problems that lie up front. ‘We have defenders, really good midfielders, but a number nine…,’ said Khalid Boulahrouz. This statement kicked off Ruud Gullit’s argument.

‘The best striker is not there,’ Gullit began. ‘And that is Luuk de Jong.’ Wout Weghorst currently occupies the number nine spot in the national team, but many people say that he simply isn’t good enough. ‘You can’t compare De Jong with Weghorst,’ Gullit said. ‘De Jong is the very best striker we have. I would still talk to him again. When the European Championship comes, will you be available? Because I need you.’

Gullit continued by saying ‘Just look at France. Olivier Giroud has played all matches and has not scored a goal. But he did become world champion. Just because it was important that he was there. If you are going to play on the counter, Luuk de Jong is not of much use to you, but in all other cases he is of great use to you.’

Luuk de Jong has kicked off the new Eredivisie campaign in incredible style. The experienced striker has scored seven goals and provided five assists in PSV’s opening eight league games. De Jong is now the Eredivisie’s top scorer of the century, and yet he’s not in the national team. Should Ronald Koeman try to convince De Jong to return to the Netherlands national team?

GBeNeFN | Hugo Hargreaves