Liverpool Agree Deal With Feyenoord To Make Arne Slot New Manager

Liverpool have tonight reached an agreement with Feyenoord for the services of their manager Arne Slot, who will replace the departing Jurgen Klopp.
Liverpool have reached an agreement with Feyenoord for Arne Slot to replace Jurgen Klopp as manager.

The Reds have been on the managerial lookout for a number of months having been informed by Klopp as far back as November that he would be stepping down from his post at the end of this season after nearly nine years in charge.
Owners Fenway Sports Group looked to restructure the power axis at the top of the club before an exhaustive search for Klopp’s replacement began. Michael Edwards was confirmed as FSG’s ‘CEO of football’ last month before Richard Hughes of Bournemouth was appointed as sporting director, a role which officially starts from June 1.
Since those positions were recruited for, Liverpool have stepped up their efforts to find a successor to Klopp, whose wildly successful stint at Anfield will end with him having won the Premier League, Champions League, Club World Cup, FA Cup and two League Cups in 2022 and 2024.
After poring over the merits of several during an exhaustive data-led search process, it is Feyenoord boss Slot who emerged as front runner with Liverpool entering into negotiations for the 45-year-old earlier this week.

Analysis conducted by Edwards and the club’s director of research, Will Spearman, have found Slot’s aggressive playing style to closest resemble the Reds’ under Klopp, meaning there won’t be too much upheaval for a playing staff operating under a new manager for the first time in close to a decade later this year.
Slot’s contract does not contain a release clause meaning Liverpool have been made to hold intensive talks with the Eredivisie side in recent days to agree on a fee and an initial offer of around £7.7m was rebuffed with the Dutch club holding out for closer to somewhere between £10-12m.

The final compensation agreement could be worth up to £9.4m (€11m) for Feyenoord. It will make Slot one of the most expensive managerial recruits in European football history, with the record currently believed to stand at £21m, which Bayern Munich paid RB Leipzig to land Julian Nagelsmann in 2021.

Sporting CP manager Rúben Amorim had come under consideration after Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso publicly made clear his intentions to stay with the newly-crowned Bundesliga champions in March but suggestions the Portuguese coach was offered a three-year deal have been firmly rebuffed by Anfield sources.

Instead, it is Slot who is set to be appointed as the man to succeed the hugely popular Klopp after the Reds were able to reach an agreement following an intense few days at the negotiating table.

Slot has been at De Kuip for three seasons and won the Eredivise title last term before picking up a KNVB Beker (Dutch Cup) last week. The Dutchman also guided his team to the 2022 Europa Conference final where they were beaten by Jose Mourinho’s Roma.