Club Brugge's Michel Preud'homme has ruled himself out of the running to become Belgium manager as Jan Vertonghen and Mousa Dembele have called on the country's FA to make the right decision when replacing Marc Wilmots.
Preud'homme, 57, was seen as an obvious candidate to take over from Wilmots, who was dismissed last week after they were beaten 3-1 by Wales in the Euro 2016 quarterfinals.
Last season the former Belgium goalkeeper helped end Club Brugge's 11-year wait for a league title and he also led them to the last eight of the Europa League a year previously.
But, having previously announced that he would extend his stay in Bruges, Preud'homme is not willing to go back on his word.
His announcement could see the Belgian FA sound out Dutch trio Dick Advocaat, Louis van Gaal and Guus Hiddink, who have also been linked with the post.
"I committed to Club Brugge for at least one year," Belgian broadcaster RTBF quoted Preud'homme as telling VRT. "I'm going to keep my word.
"I don't want to talk about it too much. Everything in life is a question of timing. And it's not the time for me. It's not the first time that my name has been linked with managing the Red Devils but I'm never free so it's quite difficult."
Preud'homme earned 58 caps for Belgium and was named as goalkeeper of the tournament at the 1994 World Cup.
Since retiring he has had success wherever he has gone as a manager. In 2008, he guided Standard Liege to their first league title in 25 years before winning domestic cup competitions with Gent and Dutch side FC Twente.
Two seasons ago Club Brugge ended an eight-year wait for silverware when they won the Belgian Cup and they also became the first Belgian team to reach the last eight of a European competition in 20 years.
Meanwhile, Tottenham pair Vertonghen and Dembele hope that the Belgian FA get their next appointment right after parting company with manager Marc Wilmots.
Vertonghen hopes that a new coach will help Belgium justify their No. 2 slot in the FIFA ranking ahead of the next World Cup in Russia.
"The Red Devils owe a lot to Marc Wilmots," Vertonghen told Sporza. "He put in place an excellent structure and gave us a lot of confidence. He also allowed young players to start off and some of them developed very well thanks to him.
"I think the coach could have stayed but the pressure for the next World Cup was very high.
"I hope the new coach will be very strong tactically. I hope that we will have a coach who really wants to achieve something good and not just someone who wants to develop their own career because I believe in this team and in our young players."
Dembele felt that it was logical to get rid of Wilmots, but insisted the players were to blame for Belgium's failure too.
"I find this dismissal sad," he said. "He did a good job for the country. We know that we should have done better with this squad so I find it normal that the Belgian FA might have had to take action.
"It was time to bring a new dynamic. But in any event we as players are professionals and we know that we all have to look at our own performances too."