Craig Bellamy set to be unveiled as new Wales boss

Craig Bellamy is expected to be named the new Wales manager on Tuesday.

According to BBC Wales, Bellamy, has emerged as the Football Association of Wales (FAW’s) first choice to replace Rob Page.

Bellamy will succeed Page – who was sacked last month – after turning down the opportunity to stay at Burnley under new manager Scott Parker.

Bellamy has spent the last two seasons at Burnley, where he worked as number two to Vincent Kompany.

He was put in interim charge after Kompany left for Bayern Munich in May and Parker said on Monday that he wanted the Welshman to stay on his coaching staff at Turf Moor.

But Bellamy has decided to return home to Wales, with only a couple of minor points to be ironed out before the FAW announce his appointment on Tuesday.

Bellamy began his coaching career in the academy of hometown club Cardiff and served as Kompany’s assistant at Anderlecht and then Burnley.

It’s understood Bellamy impressed the FAW hierarchy when he was interviewed in the north of England last week.

The 44-year-old is a former Wales captain who played 78 times for his country between 1998 and 2013. Bellamy came close to landing the job back in 2018 before the FAW appointed Ryan Giggs.

The Football Association of Wales were open to the idea of appointing their first non-Welsh manager since 1999 after ending Page’s three-and-a-half-year reign in the wake of failing to qualify for Euro 2024.

It’s believed that Arsenal legend Thierry Henry, Georgia boss Willy Sagnol and surprise contender Oxford United boss Des Buckingham were all spoken to about the post.

Wales return to action with a Nations League home tie against Turkey on September 6 before heading to Montenegro three days later.