Arne Slot confident of becoming new Liverpool manager

Feyenoord coach Arne Slot says he has "every confidence" of a deal being concluded that will see him replace Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool manager.

Long-serving boss Klopp, whose side saw their Premier League title ambitions dealt a hammer blow in a 2-0 defeat to Merseyside rivals Everton on Wednesday night, is stepping down at the end of the season.

Slot emerged as a leading contender for the role this week, with multiple reports suggesting that the Reds had begun negotiations with his Rotterdam club.

Speaking to ESPN Netherlands, Slot confirmed his interest in the role.

The 45-year-old said: "The clubs are negotiating. I am waiting to see what will come out of it. It will be no secret that I would like to go to Liverpool. Now I am waiting for the clubs to reach an agreement. I have every confidence in that."

Meanwhile, Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk welcomed the potential arrival of his countryman, saying that his attacking tactics could be an ideal match for the Premier League club.

"I find it hard to answer of course, but I think Arne Slot is perhaps one of the better Dutch coaches at this moment," Van Dijk told Viaplay following Liverpool's defeat at Everton.

"I think the way of playing and the philosophy he has, that he could be a Liverpool coach.

"Only I think from what I read and hear is that it's still far from being completed. We shall see."

If Slot is chosen to take over from Klopp, who led Liverpool to the Premier League title in 2020 and won the Champions League the year before, he will likely have to lift a team that is set for a disappointing finish to the season.

Liverpool's loss at Goodison Park left them three points behind leaders Arsenal with four games left.

Third-placed Manchester City will retain the title if they win their last six matches. After quarter-final defeats in the FA Cup and Europa League, Klopp's farewell season is fizzling out, and Van Dijk admitted they don't deserve to win the title.

"Games like these, the bare minimum is fight. We were lacking that at so many moments in games," Van Dijk added.

"If you play like we did, obviously even if we create two or three clear-cut chances again, you don't deserve to win the league.

"It's crunch time and we've not been good enough in the way we finished the chances off, in the way we defended together and also the fight. I think we have to show much more.

"But we have to look in the mirror and each and every one of us has to think like 'listen, you can't accept this. You can't accept the way we let our season end'."

After Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso ruled himself out of the running to replace Klopp, Slot is the frontrunner and his record suggests he could make an impact in English football.

Slot was also a leading candidate to take charge at Tottenham last year before choosing to stay in the Eredivisie as Ange Postecoglou eventually joined the north Londoners.

Employing an attacking philosophy, Slot led Feyenoord to the Dutch title in 2023 and won the Dutch Cup this season. He came close to winning the league with former club AZ Alkmaar in 2019-20 only to narrowly miss out to Ajax on points-per-game after the pandemic saw the league curtailed in April.

Feyenoord are currently second in the table, nine points behind PSV Eindhoven with four games left.