Liverpool players 'underwhelmed by Arne Slot appointment'

The Feyenoord boss is believed to be on the verge of leaving the Rotterdam giants for Anfield, as Jurgen Klopp prepares to end his glittering nine-year spell at the end of the season.

Slot - who has been in charge of Feyenoord since 2021 - guided the Dutch giants to Eredivisie glory last season, as well as masterminding their run to the KNVB-Beker title in the current campaign.

Feyenoord also made the final of the 2021-22 Europa Conference League with the former AZ Alkmaar head coach at the helm, and he was headhunted by Tottenham Hotspur during the summer of 2023.

Slot ultimately rebuffed Spurs' interest in favour of signing a new contract with Feyenoord, but the opportunity to step into Klopp's shoes on Merseyside proved too tempting for him to turn down.

Liverpool players 'were not consulted on Slot appointment'

Liverpool and Feyenoord are now believed to have shaken hands on a compensation package for the Dutchman, which will be an initial £7.7m which could rise to £9.4m with performance-related add-ons.

Slot had already made his desire to manage Liverpool public before the financial terms were agreed, and he recently hinted that an official announcement on his future was not too far away.

However, Football Insider claims that Liverpool's players were not given a heads-up on Slot's appointment by Fenway Sports Group Michael Edwards, who now serves as CEO of Football for the Reds' owners.

The report adds that news of the 45-year-old's arrival has only been met with a 'lukewarm' response from the dressing room, giving Slot an early roadblock as he bids to immediately win over his new players.

Assistants Sipke Hulshoff, Ruben Peeters and Etienne Reijnen are set to follow Slot to Anfield this summer, as Klopp's assistants Pep Lijnders, Vitor Matos and Peter Krawietz will be departing too.

Who were the other candidates to succeed Klopp?

Liverpool's hierarchy already had a two-month heads-up from Klopp about his exit plans before the German announced his decision publicly, although they still had to take care of the appointment of a new sporting director and sort out Edwards's return before prioritising their head coach search.

While all of that was taking place in the background, Liverpool fans were rolling out the red carpet for 2005 Champions League-winning midfielder Xabi Alonso to take the reins on account of his exceptional work with Bayer Leverkusen.

However, Liverpool supposedly never viewed Alonso as the number one candidate to take the job and were expecting the Spaniard to stay loyal to Bayer Leverkusen, which he did, leading to the Ruben Amorim saga.

The Sporting Lisbon boss quickly replaced Alonso as the purported number one contender, only to hold talks with West Ham United before realising his mistake, and the 39-year-old is also staying put in Portugal.

Ange Postecoglou (Tottenham Hotspur), Julian Nagelsmann (Germany), Thomas Frank (Brentford) and Roberto De Zerbi (Brighton & Hove Albion) were all name-checked too, as was Klopp's right-hand man Lijnders before he quickly shot down the notion of a promotion.