Arne Slot ‘confident Liverpool deal will go through’… but new Reds manager insists he’s ‘all about Feyenoord’ until end of season

Arne Slot is expected to be announced as Jurgen Klopp’s successor at Liverpool soon, but the Feyenoord boss suggested nothing has been made official yet.

The hiring was agreed upon verbally, but it appears there is work to be done on the terms.

“Nothing has been officially confirmed yet,” Slot said on Friday ahead of his side’s clash against PEC Zwolle this weekend.

“I’m sitting here with the Feyenoord emblem on my chest, so in principle the intention is that everything is about Feyenoord.

“I have already said that I am confident this will be done. I don’t know when that will be the case. But I hope an agreement will be reached.

Outgoing Reds manager Klopp has urged English football fans to sack his replacement and give him time, while insisting he left the club in an extremely healthy state.

Klopp has dubbed this current iteration of his Reds team “Liverpool 2.0” and the 56-year-old says that, even if he leaves, the new manager can continue to make positive steps with the young side that won the Carabao Cup in February.

“Liverpool 2.0 doesn’t stop with me,” said Klopp, who has just three matches remaining at the club. “It’s just the new Liverpool. This is just the beginning, they (the new coaching team) can take the next steps.

“We’re all there and we’re like, ‘Yeah, they could be champions.’ It’s all a matter of perspective. What you put on them next year. If you say, ‘OK last year (this season ), you were third, now you must become champion.”

Reds boss Jurgen Klopp has urged English football fans to fire his replacement.

“We had time when we started. Should they wait four or five years? But if you give them more time, there is a chance. We will see that. Who will win this battle, the patients or those who have waited long enough. There is a really bright future, I’m sure.

Klopp says his phone is always on if Slot, who has reached a verbal agreement to join the Merseyside club, wants to speak to him or seek advice – but he is unlikely to make a formal handover.

“It’s not my decision,” added the German. “I am not in a position to give advice. When new people arrive, if they want to know something, they can call me: the whole world has my number. We can talk about absolutely anything, I love talking about everything in this club.

“(They inherit a) fantastic team. It was like we can do this, we can do that, we need this. Thank goodness it’s not my job anymore. This is exactly what I don’t want to do anymore. People who enter this club will be quite calm.

“They will all look at the team information we have over the course of the season. The age group is great, what is coming from the academy, the positions, can you improve from the outside? I don’t know if the money is there or not We can always (improve) but the base is absolutely great.

“Look at the age of the midfielder, really great. Stefan Bajcetic is back, really cool. Some will be here, some will be loaned, some will be sold. This is all part of the problem. The base we created is really good. We tried to win the championship but it didn’t work, but you also have to see it in the long term.