(London) Liverpool confirmed the arrival of Dutch coach Arne Slot, 45, to succeed Jürgen Klopp next season, Monday the day after the last match managed by the German at Anfield.
“Liverpool Football Club is able to announce that Arne Slot has agreed an agreement to become the club’s new head coach, officially taking up the role on 1er June 2024, subject to obtaining a work permit,” wrote the Mersey club.
The former Feyenoord Rotterdam coach will join his new team “before the start of the 2024-25 season, after an agreement was reached with the Eredivisie club for his services”.
The length of his contract has not been specified by his new club, with Sky Sports announcing that it is for three years, until June 2027.
According to the specialist press, Liverpool paid 11 million euros to the Rotterdam club to buy out the last two years of the Dutchman’s contract.
Arne Slot had already confirmed his next arrival on Friday, at a press conference. “I can confirm, but I don’t think it will surprise you, that I will be coaching there next year.”
Klopp himself sang the name of his successor on Sunday at the microphone from the Anfield pitch, during the festivities organized for his departure.
After a short stint at AZ Alkmaar (2019 – 2020), Slot completed three successful seasons at the helm of Feyenoord, where he built a reputation as a daring coach, adept at spectacular football, but efficient, capable to raise the level of its young players.
He reached the final of the Europa Conference League in 2022 (defeat against José Mourinho’s AS Roma), won the championship in 2023 with a seven-point lead over PSV Eindhoven and lifted the Dutch Cup in 2024.
He will have the difficult task of succeeding the very popular Klopp, who arrived in October 2015 and left on Sunday with a slew of trophies, including the Champions League in 2019 and the English championship in 2020.
Slot’s baptism in the Premier League is expected on the weekend of August 17, the announced date of the resumption of the championship. The “Reds” will play pre-season friendly matches in the United States at the end of July and beginning of August, against Betis Sevilla, Arsenal and Manchester United.