Virgil van Dijk is of the opinion that Arne Slot possesses the ideal ‘philosophy’ to be successful as the manager of Liverpool.
As Jurgen Klopp prepares to leave his role at the season’s end, Liverpool has pinpointed Slot as the primary candidate to fill the vacancy left by the German at Anfield.
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Slot, who is keen to accept the Premier League position at ‘any cost’, is the subject of ongoing discussions between Liverpool and Feyenoord regarding a compensation deal to secure his move from Rotterdam.
Liverpool’s aspirations to commemorate Klopp’s tenure with another Premier League trophy suffered a significant setback after a 2-0 loss to Everton in the Merseyside derby on Wednesday.
Following the match, Van Dijk responded to questions about Liverpool’s pursuit of Slot during an interview with the Dutch broadcaster ViaPlay, appearing to endorse the idea of his fellow Dutchman coming to Anfield.
‘I think Slot is one of the better Dutch coaches at the moment,’ van Dijk said. ‘With the way he plays and the philosophy he has, he can be a Liverpool coach.
‘But I read and hear that it is far from complete. We shall see. We will focus on that next season, but that is still a long way off.’
After Klopp’s surprising announcement in January, Liverpool set their sights on their former midfielder, Xabi Alonso, as their top target. However, the Spaniard has committed to at least one more season at Bayer Leverkusen after leading the club to the Bundesliga title.
While Arne Slot is highly regarded in the Netherlands for his eye-catching football and talent development, club legend Jamie Carragher conceded on Wednesday night that Slot might not be the most inspiring choice.
‘What I would say is that Feyenoord to Liverpool is a huge jump and I think it shows at the moment that there’s probably a dearth in terms of top managers out there,’ the Liverpool legend said on Sky Sports.
‘When you look at who Liverpool were going for initially, Xabi Alonso whose only in his first full season as a manager. There was talk of Amorim from Sporting, he’s only 39. And Arne Slot looks like he’s the favourite right now.
‘I don’t think it’s like Rafa Benitez coming in or Jurgen Klopp coming in. Benitez came in off the back of two La Liga titles and a UEFA Cup. Klopp came in off winning a couple of league titles with Borussia Dortmund and getting to a Champions League final.
‘And Liverpool were actually in a different space then. I was part of the team before Benitez when we were just trying to qualify for the top four. Same with Klopp when he came in.
‘Liverpool are in a different area now. They’re actually fancying themselves to win the Premier League every season and next season the Champions League, they’ll be expecting to get to the quarter-finals at least.
‘I think it’s a huge jump. But he’s obviously a great coach, he’s got a great track record in the clubs that he’s had so far. We’ll see.’
