The chance to work at one of the world’s biggest clubs was “difficult to ignore,” Arne Slot said on Monday, after Liverpool confirmed that the Feyenoord coach would be their new manager.
Just 24 hours after Juergen Klopp’s emotional farewell at Anfield, the Premier League club said in a statement that the Dutchman would take up the position of head coach on Saturday next week, subject to a work permit.
The club did not specify the length of Slot’s contract, but it was widely reported in the British press that he had signed a three-year deal.
Photo: Reuters
The new manager’s arrival was an open secret, with Liverpool reportedly agreeing a compensation deal worth up to ￡9.4 million (US$11.95 million) with Feyenoord.
Slot, 45, confirmed that Anfield was his next destination at his final pre-match news conference at the Eredivisie club on Friday.
“It is certainly not an easy decision to close the door behind you at a club where you have experienced so many wonderful moments and worked successfully with so many wonderful people,” he told Feyenoord’s Web site on Monday. “But as a sportsman, an opportunity to become a head coach in the Premier League, at one of the biggest clubs in the world, is difficult to ignore.”
Klopp, 56, in January announced that this season would be his last at Anfield, and took charge of his final game on Sunday, a 2-0 win against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
In his farewell speech to the crowd, the German urged fans to throw their full support behind his successor, leading them in a chant of “Arne Slot, na na na na na.”
“You welcome the new manager like you welcomed me,” he said. “You go all-in from the first day. And you keep believing and you push the team.”
Slot, linked with a move to Tottenham Hotspur last year, became Feyenoord boss in 2021 after impressing in his first managerial role at AZ.
He led the Dutch giants to the inaugural Europa Conference League final at the end of his first season, which they lost 1-0 to Jose Mourinho’s AS Roma.
Slot then delivered just a second league title in 24 years to De Kuip last season before penning a new three-year deal.
Feyenoord have enjoyed a strong season, winning the Dutch Cup and coming second to an all-conquering PSV Eindhoven side in the league.
Under Slot, Feyenoord have delighted the fans at De Kuip with an attacking brand of soccer and Slot has won praise from Klopp himself.
“I like the way his team plays football. If he is the one, I like that he wants it,” Klopp said last month. “It’s the best job in the world, best club in the world. Great job, great team, fantastic people. A really interesting job.”
Liverpool captain and fellow Dutchman Virgil van Dijk has hailed Slot’s attacking mindset, saying it would suit the philosophy at Anfield.
“It is all about sticking together and giving him the chance of showing what he is capable of with the other guys who will come in,” Van Dijk said of working under the new boss. “He probably knows already, but everyone knows our expectations are always huge and it is about managing that in the right way and getting the maximum out of all of our players.”
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