Liverpool fans have been spending the past week or so learning as much about Arne Slot as possible.
The Reds now know that Slot will be the man tasked with following Jurgen Klopp next season. It has been a busy few days.
All that’s missing now is an official announcement. But unless anything catastrophic happens between now and that happening, the 45-year-old can start planning what his Liverpool team will look like.
Part of that will be Slot assembling his very own coaching team. With many of Klopp’s key backroom members following him out of the door next month, big positions need to be filled.
It has already been reported that current Feyenoord assistant manager Sipke Hulshoff will join Slot in swapping Rotterdam for Liverpool this summer. Head of performance Ruben Peeters will also reportedly be joining, as will analyst Etienne Reijnen. And it seems that Slot was trying to get another familiar face along too.
Arne Slot aiming to tempt Marino Pusic to Liverpool
It obviously isn’t uncommon for a new manager to surround himself with people he’s worked with before.
Just look at Klopp, he brought two men he’d worked with throughout his coaching life to Anfield – Peter Krawietz and Zeljko Buvac. The latter has since left Klopp’s staff under slightly mysterious circumstances.
Ironically though, Slot has reportedly been aiming to convince Buvac’s countryman, Marino Pusic, to join him at Anfield.
Pusic was one of the Dutchman’s right-hand men when Feyenoord won the Eredivisie title in 2023. However, he has since left to take over Shakhtar Donetsk as the Ukrainian team’s manager.
According to The Athletic though, Slot has been aiming to get Pusic on his team when he joins Liverpool.
Having only just joined Shakhtar in October though, the 52-year-old is said to have turned his old boss down. He wants to see it through in Donetsk.
Who is Marino Pusic
It’s interesting that Slot was trying to get his title-winning gang back together at Liverpool. As someone who has since made the step up to being a manager, Pusic would have been a note worthy addition.
Shakhtar is a big job, too. He follows names such as Roberto De Zerbi and Paulo Fonseca who have been in charge in recent times.
It is only Pusic’s second job as the top man, having also been at FC Twente for a single season. After taking the Dutch side down to the second division as interim, the Bosnian took them back at the first time of asking before being sacked.
From there, his association with Slot began, as they linked up at AZ Alkmaar, before joining Feyenoord.
With a background in futsal, Pusic had been in Dutch football since 2010 before his move to Shakhtar. After 25 games of the current season, the manager has his team four points clear at the top of the table
