Liverpool finally know the identify of the man who will step into Jurgen Klopp’s enormous shoes.
The Reds did incredibly well to keep their search out of the public eye for so long. Although there were rumours galore over the past three months, very few people had Arne Slot down as the eventual winner.
Nevertheless, barring an unexpected U-turn, it will be Slot who takes charge at Anfield next season.
Of course, the 45-year-old was not the only manager under consideration. There have been claims this week that Liverpool would still have loved to appoint Xabi Alonso if he’d been available.
And another to have been very heavily linked was Sporting’s Ruben Amorim. A bizarre situation unfolded with Amorim this week as he jetted to England for talks with West Ham. And now, Portuguese journalist Bruno Andrade has told the full tale of exactly what went on with the 39-year-old.
Ruben Amorim truth reavealed
For plenty of Liverpool fans, they had already virtually accepted that Amorim would be the manager from this summer. We’d been looking into predicted line-ups for the coach and all sorts.
But things blew up this week, with Amorim surpassed by Slot. And taking to X on Friday night, Andrade shared from start to finish what happened with Liverpool. Strap yourselves in, because this is a brilliant read.
“Without Xabi Alonso, Ruben Amorim became Liverpool’s strongest target,” notes the journalist. “Yes, he was interviewed. There were also conversations with his agent Raúl Costa, who, behind the scenes, trusted in the positive continuation of the process, as did the coach himself.
“Amorim was well evaluated by the Reds, but the situation did not progress as everyone expected. It never had to do with financial issues. It was even on “stand-by”. The English club wanted to hear more names: it started with Gary O’Neil (Wolves) and, later, Arne slot (Feyenoord), who, in turn, was even better evaluated internally.
“After waiting for days, Ruben Amorim and Raúl Costa decided to listen to West Ham. The agent opted for a face-to-face conversation, aware that it would eventually become public. He even believed that this could put pressure on and “awaken” Liverpool.
“Went wrong. In addition to the trip to London having gone down badly in the sporting scene, Liverpool understood the strategy and, the very next day (!!!), made the counterattack: they accelerated negotiations with Slot and, unlike previous cases, did not even I wanted to prevent the story from reaching the press.”
Amorim shoots himself in the foot
This all reads like Amorim was incredibly naïve in his dealings with Liverpool. When has anybody ever gotten away with trying something like this on Michael Edwards of all people.
Reading between the lines, it seems as though had Amorim not pulled his little stunt, then he might well have been the man chosen to lead Liverpool.
He and Slot were clearly the two candidates the Reds liked the most. When it came down to it, it could have gone one way or the other.
But for Amorim to try and force Liverpool’s hand like that was just reckless. It was never going to work. From a Reds point of view, this is a little bittersweet. In our opinion, Amorim was the outstanding candidate to follow Klopp. However, if you’re going to behave in this manner, then you’re also not the right man for the job.
He’s been left with egg on his face for now, but surely Amorim will be in a top job before long, though.