THE HAGUE: Feyenoord coach Arne Slot confirmed on Friday that he would be replacing Jurgen Klopp as manager of Liverpool next season.
“There hasn’t be an official announcement yet — but I don’t think it will come as news to you that I will be coach there next season,” Slot told reporters.
The BBC said last month that Slot’s deal to replace Klopp was worth up to £9.4 million (10.9 million euros).
“The feeling that I’m leaving here is getting stronger. There are some people you don’t simply just want to shake hands with,” Slot said ahead of his last game at the club.
“At those times, it’s not about whether you have become a champion or won the cup, but more about the appreciation between people,” he added.
Slot moved to Feyenoord in 2021 after impressing in his first managerial role at AZ Alkmaar.
He led the Dutch giants to the inaugural Europa Conference League final at the end of his first season, in which they narrowly lost 1-0 to Jose Mourinho’s Roma.
Slot then delivered just a second league title in 24 years to De Kuip last season before penning a new three-year deal.
“You can see people are genuinely sorry you are leaving,” he said.
“You can say that with words, but when you see it in people’s faces, it affects me quite a lot.”
The Feyenoord club website said a farewell party was being organized at the raucous De Kuip stadium after Slot’s final game, against Excelsior.
Feyenoord have enjoyed a strong season, winning the Dutch Cup and coming second to an all-conquering PSV Eindhoven side with one game remaining.
But Slot has only lost two league games all season and noted: “If we win (on Sunday), we will have 84 points and we will be the second best Feyenoord team in club history.”
Under Slot, Feyenoord have delighted the fans in De Kuip with an attacking brand of football and the 45-year-old 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 told reporters 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,” said Klopp.
Liverpool captain and fellow Dutchman Virgil van Dijk has also hailed Slot’s attacking mindset, saying it would suit the philosophy at Anfield.
“I think the way of playing and the philosophy he has, that he could be a Liverpool coach,” said Van Dijk.
A fan of Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, Slot was a slick forward as a player with a reputation as an accurate passer of the ball — so much so he has a move named after him.
The Arne Slot Pass is a slight deflection from a forward with his back to goal which splits the defense and releases a winger running off the ball.
Klopp will step down as Liverpool manager at the end of this season after a nine-year reign which brought the Champions League title in 2019 and Premier League trophy a year later.
Initially, Bayer Leverkusen boss and former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso had been the favorite to succeed Klopp.
However, Alonso has committed to staying at Leverkusen after leading them to a first-ever Bundesliga title.
Slot confirms he will replace Klopp as Liverpool manager
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Slot confirms he will replace Klopp as Liverpool manager
- “There hasn’t be an official announcement yet — but I don’t think it will come as news to you that I will be coach there next season,” Slot told reporters.
- The BBC said last month that Slot’s deal to replace Klopp was worth up to £9.4 million
Undav scores again as Stuttgart sink Frankfurt to go third
- A dipping header from Rasmus Kristensen gave Frankfurt an early lead
- The victory took the German Cup holders to third, a point behind second-placed Borussia Dortmund
BERLIN: Nikolas Nartey nabbed a late winner and Deniz Undav continued his hot form as Stuttgart beat Eintracht Frankfurt 3-2 at home on Tuesday to climb to third in the Bundesliga.
A dipping header from Rasmus Kristensen gave Frankfurt an early lead but Ermedin Demirovic pounced on a goalkeeping error and Undav’s deflected effort helped Stuttgart wrestle back control of the match before half-time.
Bundesliga debutant Ayoube Amaimouni-Echghouyab brought Frankfurt level but Nartey’s 87th-minute strike, his first Bundesliga goal, put the hosts back in front.
The victory took the German Cup holders to third, a point behind second-placed Borussia Dortmund, who cruised to a 3-0 victory over Werder Bremen stretching their unbeaten run to 10 league games.
Frankfurt have struggled this season after last campaign’s third-placed finish, their best result in three decades.
Kristensen connected with a corner to put his side in front after five minutes, but Frankfurt ushered Stuttgart back into the game when goalkeeper Kaua Santos spilled a routine catch, allowing Demirovic to slice home.
Undav put his side in front 10 minutes before the break, wrong-footing the Frankfurt defense and blasting a low shot which took a thick deflection into the bottom corner.
Undav, who has nine goals and two assists in his past eight league games, forced two desperation saves from Santos and flashed just wide of the post in the second half.
Amaimouni-Echghouyab levelled things up just three minutes after coming on but his effort was bested by another debut goal minutes later, when Nartey tapped in from close range.
Elsewhere, the match between Hamburg and Bayer Leverkusen was postponed just two hours before kick-off, the third Bundesliga game canceled in the space of a week due to wild winter weather across northern Germany.
