Liverpool have moved a step closer to appointing Arne Slot as manager at Anfield after reaching an agreement with Dutch club Feyenoord for the highly-rated coach, sources confirmed to ESPN.
Slot, 45, confirmed on Thursday that he was keen to move to Liverpool after being identified as the Premier League team’s preferred candidate to replace Jurgen Klopp, who is stepping down at the end of the season after eight and a half years in charge.
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And sources have said that the two clubs have now sealed a compensation deal for Slot, who has two years left to run on his contract with the Eredivisie side.
Feyenoord had been holding out for a £9 million ($11.25m) deal for Slot and, although a figure has yet to be confirmed publicly, a settlement has now been reached, leaving Liverpool free to negotiate a contract with Slot.
Liverpool opened talks with Feyenoord on Wednesday for Slot, who signed a three-year contract last year after guiding the Rotterdam-based club to the Eredivisie title. The former AZ Alkmaar coach rejected offers from Leeds United and Tottenham Hotspur to commit his future to Feyenoord.
But speaking to ESPN Netherlands ahead of Thursday’s Eredivisie game against Go Ahead Eagles, Slot said he wanted to take the opportunity to move to the Premier League with Liverpool.
“The only thing I can say about it is that the clubs are in negotiations,” Slot said. “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’m waiting to see whether the clubs reach an agreement. I’m very confident in that.”
Slot emerged as the leading contender for the Liverpool job following Xabi Alonso’s decision to remain at Bayer Leverkusen and a cooling in the Premier League club’s interest in Sporting CP coach Ruben Amorim.
Asked about his potential successor on Friday, Klopp was full of praise for Slot.
“I like the way his team play football,” he told a news conference. “All the things I heard about him as a guy, a good guy, some people I know know him, I don’t know him yet, but some people tell me that he’s a really good guy and I like that a lot.
“Good coach, good guy — looking forward for the club if he is the solution.”