Liverpool next manager: Reds great blasts Slot hire with BRUTAL verdict

Liverpool are moving ever closer to selecting Arne Slot as the successor to Jurgen Klopp. 

The Feyenoord manager confirmed on Thursday that his side were in negotiations with Liverpool over his appointment, although it is believed some details still need to be sorted out. 

The Rotterdam side are said to be holding out for around £9 million in compensation for their manager, who has a valid contract at De Kuip until 2026. Dutch media reports he will earn around €8m per season on Merseyside. 

Slot, 45, has been in charge of Feyenoord for three years, reaching the inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League final in his first season in charge, before winning the Eredivisie title last season.

On Sunday, he added the KNVB Beker (Dutch cup) to his burgeoning trophy collection and the ex-midfielder is also a two-time Dutch coach of the year. 

However, there have been some question marks over Liverpool’s choice to replace Klopp with the Eredivisie man.

Having missed out on Xabi Alonso, the Reds went elsewhere for a new manager and one Liverpool legend does NOT believe that Slot has the pedigree to take over from the 56-year-old German. 

Klopp won a Premier League, a Champions League and a Club World Cup title while in charge at Anfield over a nine-year spell, among other honours, and Steve Nicol is unsure whether Slot can live up to those standards given his background. 

“Is that the resume of somebody to lead a club the size of Liverpool back to the Premier League title and the Champions League? I mean I can't honestly say that,” Nicol said of Slot on ESPN. 

“All the other boxes have been ticked, the way they play the game, the way he goes about it, he's going to be able to coach. 

“But is it really a resume to take over one of the biggest clubs in the land? I'm not sure it is, but what are the alternatives?”

Nicol also believes that appointing a manager with Klopp’s CV back in 2015 was a ‘no brainer’ for Liverpool and worries that the current lack of viable candidates is one of the reasons the club have been led to Slot’s door. 

Nicol worries that 'there's not a Klopp out there'

“Don't you think the Klopp appointment in itself was a no-brainer?,” Nicol asked. “Klopp had been in a Champions League final, Klopp had knocked Bayern off their perch so it really was kind of a no-brainer.

“This one's difficult, don't you think, because, number one, there's not a Klopp out there. 

“So now you're going to have to dig into whatever to try and figure out who the right man is and it seems like Arne Slot’s the guy that they've decided on for all of those reasons.”

Nicol is a former Liverpool captain who played 468 times for the Reds between 1981 and 1994. The ex-Scotland international won FOUR league titles during his Anfield days, three FA Cups as well as the 1983-84 European Cup.