Dick Advocaat has been confirmed as the next coach of the Dutch national football team, ending a six-week search for a successor to Danny Blind.

Advocaat’s agent Rob Jansen said he expected the 69-year-old to agree terms with the Netherlands football association (KNVB) by the end of the week. However, Advocaat will not take charge until the beginning of June because he is still under contract with Turkish club Fenerbahçe.

His first competitive game is expected to be the qualifying match against Luxembourg on June 9. Before then Oranje has friendlies lined up against Morocco on May 31 and Côte d’Ivoire on June 4.

The KNVB would not confirm that a verbal agreement has been reached with Advocaat. ‘We will only make it public once it has been concluded,’ said technical director Hans van Breukelen.

Former team captain and ex-Chelsea coach Ruud Gullit said last week that he had agreed to serve as Advocaat’s assistant.

Blind was sacked at the end of March in the wake of a disastrous 2-0 defeat to Bulgaria that left Oranje in fourth place in their World Cup qualifying group with five games to play.

Advocaat, who has managed Oranje twice before, was appointed as Blind’s assistant last year, but quit after just three games when Fenerbahçe offered him a contract.