Tottenham expert ‘very surprised’ by Arne Slot twist at Liverpool
Liverpool being close to naming Arne Slot as their next manager is very surprising.
Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, former Tottenham, Leeds and England goalkeeper Paul Robinson claimed that everyone thought Ruben Amorim would be next in the Anfield dugout.
But sources have told Football Insider that the Feyenoord manager is close to replacing Jurgen Klopp, as opposed to the Sporting Lisbon boss.
Klopp will leave the Merseyside club at the end of the current season, having revealed his Anfield exit in January.
Latest Liverpool twist leaves pundit surprised
Feyenoord’s Slot is now closing in on the job, having last year turned down the chance to become the new Spurs boss.
Robinson believes the 45-year-old, if appointed at Liverpool, will be in a very rare position for a new manager at a club given the current state of the Reds.
“He wasn’t heavily linked before,” he told the Inside Track podcast. “But I think it was this time last year, almost exactly to the day that he turned down Tottenham.
“He and his people were in talks, and I think Tottenham maybe baulked at the price tag of getting him and his background staff out.
“Because it’s not just him, he’s got a big background staff because he’s obsessed with data, loves his data, and he’s got so many people around him.
“I’m surprised because it did look like Amorim was nailed on, we thought that’s where it was all going.
“You look at a year ago today with the Slot and Tottenham links, that was thought in some quarters to be used on his behalf to get him a new and better contract at Feyenoord, which is what it seemingly did in the end.
“Liverpool have coming knocking this time… with the history and size of the club and the opportunity to pick up a club that are in a decent shape.
“They aren’t exactly where they’d want to be at the moment, they have obviously fallen out of a couple of competitions, looks like they’ve dropped away in the league too following the Everton loss.
“But as a manager, you very rarely pick up a club that are in a good shape. This is Jurgen Klopp leaving at the right time for him, it’s not him getting sacked or his club on a 10-game losing streak.
“So as a manager, it’s a very rare opportunity to pick up a club that are doing well.”
In other news, “huge” Slot compensation details emerge from Anfield.
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