“I say it openly - he will be the next coach" - Romelu Lukaku confirms who will succeed Roberto Martinez as Belgium boss 

Romelu Lukaku is confident that Arsenal legend Thierry Henry will succeed Roberto Martinez as Belgium's new coach.

The Spanish tactician stepped down from the national team's managerial role after a torrid showing at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The Belgian Red Devils won just one group-stage game, which came against Canada.

They finished third, behind Morocco and Croatia, to be eliminated from the competition. Henry was on Martinez's backroom staff during the tournament, as he has been since 2016.

He took time out from 2018 to 2021 to try his hand as AS Monaco and Montreal Impact's manager, respectively. He was back in time for Belgium's 2020 UEFA European Championship.

Henry, who won the 1998 FIFA World Cup with France as a player, is one of the favorites to become Belgium's new manager. If Lukaku is to be believed, the Frenchman will be named as the country's new head coach.

The Chelsea loanee told Sky Italia (h/t talkSPORT):

"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."

Their golden generation is at its dusk and whoever comes in as their new boss will have the task of rebuilding the national team to some extent.

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Romelu Lukaku says Belgium must keep trying to win silverware

Belgium are yet to win a single major tournament in their history. This is despite the fact that they have boasted a team filled with some of the world's best footballers.

Eden Hazard, Thibaut Courtouis, Kevin de Bruyne, Lukaku, Jan Vertonghen, Vincent Kompany and Toby Alderweireld are just some of the names at the country's disposal in the past decade or so.

However, none of them have been able to help their country win a trophy. A third-place finish at the 2018 FIFA World Cup remains their only notable achievement.

Lukaku, however, believes that Belgium shouldn't give up their hopes of winning something meaningful in the near future. He also said that the Royal Belgian FA would be wise to make an in-house appointment for the managerial role.

The on-loan Inter Milan striker said, via the aforementioned source:

"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."