Mega Slot sack update with Alonso ‘ready to join’ as Saudi target three Liverpool men | OneFootball

Xabi Alonso is ‘ready to join’ Liverpool in the summer and replace Arne Slot – but further reports claim the Reds are thinking about keeping the Dutchman around next season.

After winning the Premier League last season, it has been a campaign to forget for Slot and his Reds side, who are currently fifth in the table.

Liverpool finished last term ten points ahead of Arsenal, who are currently leading the Premier League, but they are now 21 points adrift of the Gunners.

The potential disaster of not qualifying for the Champions League this season has seen rumours of a potential exit for Slot take off in recent months.

German publication Bild insists that the Dutchman is now ‘on the verge of being sacked’ at Liverpool, with Alonso now ‘expected to arrive in the summer’.

The report adds: ‘Liverpool is among the serious suitors and has the best chance of signing Alonso. According to SPORT BILD, Alonso is ready to join Liverpool. If the English club makes him a concrete offer, he will accept – provided his conditions are met beforehand.

‘This concerns his influence on squad planning. He agreed to join Real Madrid a year ago, even though his preferences (a true center forward and central midfielder) had already been dismissed before he signed. He won’t let that happen again.’

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Arne Slot could still be around next season…

However, The Independent‘s Miguel Delaney insists that there are ‘no current plans to move on’ Slot in the summer ‘with the hierarchy believing there are numerous mitigating factors for a disappointing campaign’.

Delaney also brings news that the Saudi Pro League are looking to poach Fenway Sports Group’s CEO of Football, Michael Edwards, away from Liverpool in the summer.

Edwards could be looking for a new challenge after the owners’ multi-club strategy proposal was scrapped earlier this year and the Saudis ‘are willing to offer him an opportunity’.

The Saudi Pro League are also still ‘desperate’ to bring Mohamed Salah, who announced he was leaving Liverpool on Tuesday, to the Middle East, while sporting director Richard Hughes is ‘seen as an ideal candidate for Al Hilal’s recruitment roles’.

TEAMtalk has already previously revealed that Slot’s performance is under serious scrutiny from the club’s hierarchy, who will a judgement at the season’s end on whether to back or sack the Dutchman following an inconsistent campaign.

While Alonso remains firmly in pole position if Liverpool take the decision to replace Slot, while the Spaniard is ready to step back into management after being sacked by Real Madrid earlier in the season.

Liverpool Echo journalist Paul Gorst has already insisted that Slot will stay at Anfield until at least the summer as the Reds have no interest in a stop-gap appointment.

Gorst wrote: ‘When Liverpool searched for Jurgen Klopp‘s successor, it was one that took the best part of six months before Slot emerged as the preferred candidate and the enormous dossier produced on the Dutchman by the club, which was said to have been around 60 pages, was indicative of how meticulous they were in their recruitment drive.

‘It’s why the idea of dispensing with Slot now and bringing in a stop-gap appointment in the manner of United with interim boss Michael Carrick is simply a non-starter. The time for judgement will come at the end of the season.’

When asked about uncertainty over his future, Slot responded over the weekend: “It makes complete sense if you win the win league last season and you’ve spent £150m – not £450m – that expectations are high.

“And those expectations were high for the pundits, for the media, for me, for the fans.

“But still it’s not good enough, no matter how many excuses I can come up with. It’s still not good enough in the position we’re in right now.”

More Liverpool news: Fresh Olise enquiry, Salah transfer options

Liverpool have submitted a fresh enquiry to sign Bayern Munich winger Michael Olise ahead of the summer as they look for a replacement for Salah.

However, Bayern’s stance remains unequivocal – the 23-year-old is not for sale under any circumstances this summer.

TEAMtalk can reveal that intermediaries have been holding talks with Man Utd and Liverpool over Alphonso Davies as the Bayern Munich left-back is offered to a number of Premier League clubs.

Liverpool and Man Utd, both understood to be in the market for a new left-back this summer, were among the first clubs to be approached.

While Fabrizio Romano has claimed that ultimately Salah has two transfer options in the summer, while there are four reasons he decided to leave Liverpool now.