Liverpool in talks with Feyenoord over Slot to replace Klopp
Amsterdam — Liverpool have lined up Feyenoord coach Arne Slot as successor to departing manager Jürgen Klopp and have opened negotiations with the Eredivisie club, Dutch media reported on Wednesday.
The Algemeen Dagblad newspaper said Liverpool made contact with Feyenoord on Wednesday morning.
Slot was heavily linked with a possible move to Tottenham Hotspur in 2023, but opted to stay at Feyenoord and signed a contract extension with the Dutch side until 2026.
Reports added that Liverpool would have to pay an undisclosed sum to Feyenoord for Slot’s services. He has been widely praised for his innovative, attacking football with Feyenoord, winning the league title in the 2022-23 season, as well as the KNVB Cup on Sunday. In his first season at Feyenoord, he also led the Rotterdam club to the final of the inaugural Europa Conference League.
Slot, who was a journeyman midfielder as a player, began his coaching career at AZ Alkmaar, first as an assistant under John van den Brom, and then head coach from 2019-20.
Earlier this week, Feyenoord CEO Dennis te Kloese responded to questions over Slot’s future in an interview with ESPN, saying: “We assume that he will also be our trainer next year. We have experienced this situation before and will take good care of our own interests.”
Liverpool were linked with a move for their former player and Bayer Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso earlier this year, but the Spaniard opted to commit his future to the Bundesliga champions. Sporting Lisbon coach Ruben Amorim was also among the names linked with the top job at Liverpool.
Austria coach Ralf Rangnick on Wednesday said Bayern Munich had been in touch, with the German club in search of a successor to departing Thomas Tuchel.
Rangnick said he was not dealing with any potential Bayern interest at the moment, with his focus firmly on the Euro 2024 starting in Germany in June.
“There has been contact from the side of Bayern Munich and I have informed the Austrian Football Association,” Rangnick told Austrian website 90 Minuten.
“We have a very trusting relationship. My focus is on the Austrian national team. We are focusing completely on the European championships. I feel very well here. At the moment there is no reason to intensively deal with this,” he said.
Tuchel, who had taken over Bayern just over a year ago, is leaving a year earlier than his contract after a disappointing domestic campaign that also saw them eliminated in the German Cup by third-tier Saarbruecken.
The 65-year-old Rangnick, who has coached Manchester United and RB Leipzig among others, said he would only deal with Bayern if and when the club made him an offer.
“If Bayern say ‘we want you’. And then I would also have to ask myself ‘do I really want this?’. If I want to do something else I will first discuss it with the Austrian FA,” he said.
Reuters
