Liverpool could replace Arne Slot with renegade coach Italian football hates; he loves pressing

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Empire of the Kop

·1 April 2026

Liverpool could replace Arne Slot with renegade coach Italian football hates; he loves pressing

Cesc Fabregas may feel like a left-of-field appointment at Liverpool, but there may be merits to his signing.

Arne Slot looks set to remain the head coach at Anfield until the summer at the very least.

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However, there are serious questions to be asked of the Dutchman’s future beyond that point, given the scale of the club’s collapse in the 2025/26 season.

Cesc Fabregas could replace Arne Slot

A certain former Red (cough, cough, Xabi Alonso, cough cough) may have something to say about this.

But the truth is that the former Arsenal man has undoubtedly caught the eye across Europe thanks to Como’s magnificent performance levels in Serie A this season.

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The 38-year-old has benefited from investment, as Lewis Steele rightly points out in his detailed analysis of the managerial landscape for the Daily Mail.

Regardless, to have helped the newly promoted outfit finish 10th in their first season back in Serie A in 2024/25 – and to now have taken the club to fourth in the table – is absolutely tremendous.

And don’t forget the important role he’d played as interim boss in 2023/24, helping Como gain automatic promotion to the Italian top-flight in six games.

Still, this is his first serious role in club management since being admitted to the UEFA Pro coaching course. So, there are more experienced candidates out there (cough, cough, Xabi Alonso, cough, cough).

The merits of Liverpool appointing Cesc Fabregas

There’s something we quite like about the fact that the well-meaning Spaniard has ‘rattled the established coaches of Italy’.

Steele reported: “Fabregas, the World Cup-winning ex-Arsenal, Barcelona and Chelsea midfielder is the mastermind behind Como’s rise and the best compliment one can pay him is that he has seemingly rattled the established coaches of Italy. Gian Piero Gasperini, the overachieving ex-Atalanta man now at Roma, snubbed a handshake and Max Allegri has called him a ‘child’ and ‘idiot’.

“Why are they so disgruntled? Maybe it lies in the fact that Fabregas is already one of the best in Italy right now. Listen to the 38-year-old speak and you can see he knows what he is talking about. Como’s president talks about making the club ‘a brand like Disney’ and Fabregas’s rise is a fairytale that is only just beginning.”

James Horncastle, who very much knows his stuff about Italian football, told The Athletic that Fabregas is considered something of a ‘radical’ in Italy. However, quite bizarrely for a country that supposedly worships tactics, his involvement in Italy has been met with some scorn.

As far as the Premier League is concerned, it should be noted that the former Arsenal star doesn’t conform to three at the back, instead favouring a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 with an emphasis on possession football and pressing in the final third. Principles Como didn’t abandon even when coming up against Italian giants Juventus away from home.

Still, an offer from Liverpool this summer is unlikely to come.

But you can see how Cesc Fabregas will, at the very least, be on the shortlist for several Premier League clubs.