Liverpool have opened talks with Feyenoord over appointing Arne Slot as their new manager with the 45-year-old keen to succeed Jürgen Klopp at Anfield.
Slot has emerged as the frontrunner for the Liverpool job with his track record of improving young talent, success on a relatively modest budget, European experience and a style of play that is not a dramatic departure from Klopp’s, all appealing to Anfield’s recruitment team.
Liverpool have now made an official approach for their favoured candidate, who is of interest to Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Milan, and Slot is open to a move to the Premier League club.
It will take a compensation fee in the region of €10m (£8.5m) to release him from the final two years of his Feyenoord contract. Negotiations between the two clubs are ongoing. Slot led the Rotterdam club to victory in the KNVB Cup on Sunday and won the Eredivisie title last season. He also reached the 2022 Europa Conference League final, in his first season in charge after replacing Dick Advocaat.
Liverpool’s search for Klopp’s successor is being driven by Michael Edwards, the new chief executive officer of football for Fenway Sports Group, Liverpool’s owner, and incoming sporting director Richard Hughes.
The former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso was the initial frontrunner but, after committing his immediate future to the new Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen, Liverpool have considered numerous alternatives, including Sporting’s Rúben Amorim, who is wanted by West Ham, and Brighton’s Roberto De Zerbi.
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Liverpool’s targets have been sounded out via intermediaries since Klopp publicly announced his shock departure in January and Slot is the first candidate they have made an official move for, a sign of Edwards’ and Hughes’ confidence in hiring a coach who was wanted by Tottenham last season.