- EXCLUSIVE from Graeme Bailey
Arne Slot has been on Liverpool’s post-Jurgen Klopp shortlist from the very beginning of their manager search with CEO of Football Michael Edwards a fan of the Eredivisie winner.
HITC understands that, despite Arne Slot‘s emergence as a frontrunner for the Anfield job relatively late in the conversation – Liverpool initially targeted Xabi Alonso before holding talks with Ruben Amorim – the Dutchman is not a new name on the radars of those working behind the scenes on the red half of Merseyside.
Slot, who guided Feyenoord to only their second Eredivisie title in the 21st century last year, is admired by Liverpool’s CEO of Football Michael Edwards.
The former sporting director, who recently returned for a second spell at Anfield, helped identify the 45-year-old as a leading candidate through his typically meticulous research and his analytical approach to big decisions.
Liverpool like Feyenoord coach Arne Slot
Slot held talks with Leeds, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur in 2023 before deciding to stick around in the Netherlands and help Feyenoord defend their crown. An outstanding PSV Eindhoven are on the brink of taking Feyenoord’s crown, however, though this has still been another very impressive season for the Rotterdammers.
Slot’s team could still overtake their title-winning tally of points of 82 from 2022/23, a testament in itself to just how remarkable this PSV team have been. Feyenoord have lost only two league matches throughout the campaign, and defeated NEC Nijmegen to secure the Dutch Cup over the weekend.
Liverpool will no doubt be impressed not only by Slot’s high-octane, possession-heavy football – he is ‘crazy‘ about Pep Guardiola – but also his ability to turn good players into great ones.
Alireza Jahanbakhsh, the former Brighton benchwarmer, described him as the ‘the best coach in the world at the moment’ around 12 months ago. Oussama Idrissi also called Slot the best manager he had ever worked with, and that includes Julen Lopetegui and Manchester United’s former Ajax boss Erik ten Hag (The Athletic).
Slot also helped secure big-money moves to high-profile leagues for the likes of Orkun Kokcu and Frederik Aursnes, Luis Sinisterra, Tyrell Malacia, and Marcos Senesi.
Potential Klopp replacement loves Guardiola’s football
“I think Slot is really good,” the three-time Ballon D’Or winning Dutch legend Marco van Basten tells Ziggo Sport. “He can really go anywhere. Bayern Munich, Liverpool… I’m really convinced of that.
“I’ve spoken to him a few times, and he handles the player groups very well. Of course, he is also very well versed tactically.
“I can explain his ideas well. He is calm and intelligent. As far as I am concerned, he is really a top coach. I really think he can go to any club, even difficult clubs. He’s very smart in his choice of words.”
“He has a lot of qualities and he shows it at every level,” adds the AC Milan icon. “He first did it at AZ, and now at Feyenoord. And Feyenoord is a really complicated club. He has been doing well for three years, while PSV and Ajax have much more options in terms of money.
“It could really fit anywhere. If you get AZ and Feyenoord to play football, you also get big clubs like AC Milan to play football. You can clearly see his hand wherever he is the coach.
“I think it will even be easier for him at a higher level, because he has better players who understand his ideas faster. In the end, I also think he is smart enough to manage stubborn players.”
Feyenoord director Dennis te Kloese was reluctant to give too much away, however, when asked about that Liverpool interest on Tuesday.
“We’ll wait and see,” he tells Voetbal International.