‘There are no doubts’ – Romelu Lukaku backs Thierry Henry to replace Roberto Martinez as Belgium boss

On-loan Chelsea striker Romalu Lukaku has backed Thierry Henry to succeed Roberto Martinez as Belgium head coach.

Martinez stepped down as head coach following the Red Devil’s shock group stage exit from the World Cup in Qatar, six years after his appointment.

Lukaku, currently on a season-long loan at former club Inter Milan, has had his say on who should replace Martinez, and believes Henry is the perfect candidate to take Belgium forward.

“For me Henry is the next coach of Belgium. There are no doubts,” he told Sky Italia. “I say it openly: he will be the next coach.

“He has the respect of all the players, he has won everything. He knows how to coach, he knows what we have to do to get there.

“He knows the team, the league, the staff. For me he is the ideal coach for our national team.

“[If it isn’t Henry] then I don’t know who they will hire. But I don’t think Belgium should start from scratch.

“So far this generation hasn’t won but we have to keep trying to win. He wants to win, and I don’t think the federation is going to get a coach who wants to change everything and start from scratch. It’s not worth it to me.”

Henry has been an assistant to Martinez since 2016, but left in 2018 to pursue his career as a head coach at Monaco and Montreal Impact.

He returned to the Belgium dugout in 2021 ahead of the delayed Euro 2020 and the run-up to Qatar.

Despite having Belgium’s well-described “golden generation” at his disposal, Martinez failed to land any silverware during his time in charge.

Most recently Belgium were knocked out of the European Championships at the quarter-final stage to eventual champions Italy, and had an awful campaign in Qatar which led to Martinez’s resignation.

Should Henry step in, he will be responsible for evolving the team into a new era.