SLOTTING IN
Arne Slot to become new Liverpool manager as £9.4m deal agreed for Feyenoord boss to replace Jurgen Klopp
Reds move quickly to sort out successor to long-serving German legend
ARNE SLOT is poised to be confirmed as Liverpool's next manager after a compensation deal with Feyenoord of £9.4million was agreed in principle.
The Dutchman, 45, is set to succeed outgoing Anfield legend Jurgen Klopp at the end of the Eredivisie season in mid-May.
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Negotiations with Holland giants Feyenoord are understood to have been finalised for £7.7million plus £1.7m in add-ons.
The compensation deal, which could reach up to £9.4million, was agreed on Friday evening.
Liverpool are also reportedly adding moves for Slot's right-hand man Sipke Hulshoff, who has spent time with the Holland national team.
The Reds are also keen to poach Feyenoord's head of performance Ruben Peeters and analyst Etienne Reijnen.
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And it's also been reported that Slot's contract details at Liverpool have been sorted out.
His incoming appointment is expected to be confirmed within days.
Klopp, 56, revealed in January he would end his nine-year Anfield reign once the campaign was over.
He guided Liverpool to Champions League glory in 2019 and the Prem title the following year.
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But Wednesday's 2-0 loss at Everton left the Reds third in the table - three points off leaders Arsenal and two behind Manchester City, who have a game in hand.
Klopp said of Slot's expected arrival: "I'm not involved in the process, just to clarify that.
Liverpool go Dutch
WHO'S who in the Liverpool dugout next season.
Manager Arne Slot, 45
Slot has led Feyenoord for three seasons, wining the Eredivisie title in 2023 and the KNVB Cup in 2024.
A former footballer in Holland, he is known to be a perfectionist and favours attacking football like Jurgen Klopp.
Assistant manager Sipke Hulshoff, 49
Hulshoff currently serves as Ronald Koeman’s assistant manager with the Holland national team and also works alongside Slot at Feyenoord.
He has had two spells as manager at little-known Dutch side Cambuur.
Head of performance Ruben Peeters, 31
A former fitness coach at Genk, Peeters has been working with Slot at Feyenoord since 2021.
The Belgian has a Master’s Degree in Sports Sciences.
Chief analyst Etienne Reijnen, 37
Former centre back who retired from football in 2020 to move into coaching.
In October 2023, Reijnen joined Feyenoord as assistant coach, to focus on analysing and providing technical advise to Arne Slot.
Who is Arne Slot?
"What I like a lot about it, if he is the one, is that he really wants to take the job. He is desperate. So 'come on, let's go for it'. Excited.
"I like the way his team plays football, definitely.
"All the things I hear about him - some people I know know him, I don't know him yet - but some people tell me that he's a really good guy, and I like that a lot.
It's the best job in the world, best club in the world
Jurgen Klopp
"So, good coach, good guy, looking forward for the club. If he's the solution, or the man, then I'm more than happy.
"It's not up to me to judge these things but it all sounds really good to me.
"It's the best job in the world, best club in the world. Obviously now, I help even by not finishing on a high - it looks like - so there's space for improvement.
"It's great job, fantastic people. He would take a really interesting job."
Slot was a solid, goalscoring midfielder during 18 years as a player.
He notched 50 goals in 164 games in a seven-year stint at first club Zwolle.
Then came five years with NAC Breda and a spell with Sparta Rotterdam from 2007-10 before he returned to Zwolle to finish his playing career.
Not surprisingly, it was at Zwolle where Slot turned to coaching after he retired on the pitch in 2013.
Slot snubbed Spurs, hates defending and has a PASS named after him
By Dan King
LIVERPOOL managerial target Arne Slot was a good enough player to have a type of pass named after him.
But it is as a manager that the Feyenoord head coach is really making his mark.
Like another bald Dutchman, Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag, Slot earned his stripes bossing smaller sides before being given a chance at one of the Netherlands' big three.
But the question Liverpool are pondering is whether Slot would make a better fist of running one of the biggest clubs in the world than Ten Hag so far has at Old Trafford.
Slot, 45, was certainly easier on the eye as a player than centre back Ten Hag.
“The Arne Slot Ball” was something he perfected as a silky No 10 - a back-to-goal, first-time, 180-degree spin and flick behind the defensive line for a winger to run on to deep in the opposition half.
Click here to read all about the incoming Liverpool boss.
He then bossed Dutch second-tier club Cambur in 2016-17 and took the Alkmaar job two years later.
Slot then landed one of the top jobs in Holland football when Feyenoord came calling in December 2020.
Now he is expected to head to Liverpool after the Dutch domestic campaign finishes on May 19.
The news comes 24 hours after Sky Sports journalist Gary Cotterill was grabbed and held away from the former AZ Alkmaar chief when he tried to question him over the move.
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Cotterill was blocked off by a member of the manager's entourage.
Slot smiled at the time but was unwilling to divulge any details.
What they have said about Arne Slot
MATT WADE, head of sporting strategy at Feyenoord
"He is a brilliant communicator, and consultative, but also clear at the same time.
"He is quite cautious, quite introverted, but very rule based and principled, which means everyone knows where they stand.
"And he is not paranoid, which allows freedom for specialists to operate.”
SANDER WESTERVELD, former Liverpool goalkeeper and team-mate of Arne Slot
"When I played with Arne at Sparta, you could see that he would become a coach.
"He was a leader, a No10 midfielder and someone who would change tactics by himself.
"The job he has done at Feyenoord makes him the perfect fit for Liverpool."
Dutch football journalist MARCEL VAN DER KRAAN
"I’ve followed Feyenoord for 40 years. Not since the days of Johan Cruyff at Ajax in the 1980s has there been a coach so attack-minded in the Dutch league.
"Cruyff only had a few disciples who followed him and one of them was Pep Guardiola."
Arsenal star REISS NELSON who played 31 games under Slot on loan at Feyenoord
"I felt like Arne Slot is a great manager. He really got me into my rhythm.
"He gave me a lot of opportunities to play and I excelled."