Thursday 5 February 2015 18:08, UK
Dan Petrescu has told a website in Romania that he was offered the Nottingham Forest job.
Former Chelsea full-back Petrescu had long been linked with becoming the next manager at the Sky Bet Championship club, even before the departure of Stuart Pearce on Sunday. But ex-Crystal Palace and Bolton boss Dougie Freedman was appointed.
The 47-year-old, who is out of work after leaving Al Arabi in Qatar, claims a deal to take him to the City Ground was "99 per cent done" and that he turned down the offer because it was only a deal until the end of the season.
"Everyone knows that I had offers from Nottingham," Petrescu told DigiSport.
"I had a clear offer, but the terms of the contract were not what I wanted. And the people there did not want to negotiate much.
"I wanted quickly, without discussing and (they) said we need to talk. So I talked about more, they decided to choose another coach.
"Let's say that everything was 99 per cent done, at one time I was ready to get my ticket to go to London.
"I think Nottingham is a team that suits me. I was offered the job but I turned it down. I loved the club, but couldn't sign for only three months."
Former Romania international Petrescu has managed clubs in his homeland, including Rapid Bucharest and Unirea Urziceni. He has also had managerial spells in Poland, with Wisla Krakow, and Russia, where he was in charge at Kuban Krasnodar and Dynamo Moscow.
