Arne Slot wants to take the Liverpool job and hopes an agreement can be reached with Feyenoord to allow him to succeed Jurgen Klopp at Anfield.
The 45-year-old Dutch coach has emerged as a leading candidate to take over from Klopp, who will leave the Reds at the end of the season.
Feyenoord, though, do not want to lose their manager and are expected to demand significant compensation for the man who guided them to a first Eredivisie title in six years last season.
Slot signed a contract extension with Feyenoord last summer (Richard Sellers/PA)
Speaking ahead of Feyenoord’s match at Go Ahead Eagles on Thursday night, Slot told ESPN: “The only thing I can say about it is that the clubs are in negotiations – and then you sit in the waiting room and wait for what will come out.
“It seems clear to me that I would like to go to Liverpool.
“Now I am waiting to see whether the clubs reach an agreement. I have every confidence in that.”
Arne Slot over uitduel in Deventer:
‘We zullen enkele dagen na het winnen van een prijs ook op mentaal vlak getest worden’#gaefey
— Feyenoord Rotterdam (@Feyenoord) April 24, 2024
Slot added: “The clubs have to do their job and then I am waiting, and as the ‘main character’ I have to respect that.
“It will undoubtedly become clear in the coming days.”
Feyenoord – second in the Eredivisie table, with PSV Eindhoven clear at the top – won the Dutch Cup at the weekend and last summer extended Slot’s contract until 2026.
Feyenoord manager Arne Slot (left) has developed a high-pressing style for his teams (Andrew Milligan/PA)
As such, Liverpool can expect Feyenoord to take a tough stance in the negotiations, with Slot likely to want to take some of his backroom staff with him to the Premier League.
It has been reported that Liverpool will have to pay “considerably more than 10 million euros” if they are to land their man.
Slot has turned down previous offers to work in the Premier League, the Dutchman opting not to take on the Leeds job after they sacked Jesse Marsch in February last year.
It has also been reported Slot ruled himself out of the running for the vacancy at Tottenham before Ange Postecoglou was appointed last summer.
Jurgen Klopp will leave Liverpool at the end of the season (Zac Goodwin/PA)
Michael Edwards – who recently returned to the fold as the chief executive of football for Liverpool’s owners Fenway Sports Group, having previously been the club’s sporting director – and incoming sporting director Richard Hughes have been tasked with the unenviable task of finding Klopp’s replacement.
It is understood Liverpool consider Slot to fit all the criteria set out in their recruitment process, although they are still looking at other contenders.
Sporting Lisbon’s Ruben Amorim – also linked with West Ham – and Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi have also been under consideration.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here