Craig Bellamy Commits to Wales Until 2028 After Rejecting Club Approaches

Craig Bellamy has rejected offers to manage club sides and said he plans to stay with Wales through the end of his contract in 2028. The 46-year-old was appointed on a four-year deal in the summer of 2024. He remained unbeaten in his first nine matches, secured promotion to the Nations League top tier, and introduced an attacking style of play before Wales lost their World Cup play-off final at home to Bosnia-Herzegovina in March.

Bellamy has been named as a candidate to replace Scott Parker at Burnley, where he previously worked as assistant to Vincent Kompany, now at Bayern Munich. He has also been linked with Celtic, who are seeking a permanent manager after Martin O'Neill's interim spell.

Bellamy said he is focused on leading Wales at Euro 2028, which the country will co-host with England, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland.

"Everything's in place, I get completely backed and it's going to give me the opportunity in the next two years to improve again," he said before Tuesday's friendly against Ghana. "I've been offered that elsewhere as well, but I have this here already. Wales gave me this opportunity and one or two might not have because I was conscious I haven't managed before," Bellamy added.

"I am ambitious, trust me. " Football Association of Wales officials told BBC Sport Wales they are "very confident" Bellamy will complete his contract. Any club seeking to hire him would need to pay a release clause of at least £700,000.

"I couldn't see it being fair for me to walk away. That's not right," Bellamy said. '. Listen, we're not going anywhere. " Wales host Ghana on Tuesday at Cardiff City Stadium before facing Romania in Bucharest on Saturday.

Defenders Ben Davies and Connor Roberts have returned from long-term injuries, while Harry Wilson is unavailable. First senior call-ups have gone to Cameron Congreve, Ollie Bostock and Jayden Lienou. Only about 10,000 tickets had been sold for the Ghana match by Monday afternoon.

Bellamy noted Wales' poor June record of 13 games, nine losses and two wins, one of which came last year, and said the team must improve. "Our Nations League games will be sold out," he said.