Arne Slot sack: Richard Hughes tipped to throw major Liverpool, Xabi Alonso curveball | OneFootball

Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes is being tipped to potentially complicate matters when it comes to the club’s chase for Xabi Alonso as their next boss, as the pressure on Arne Slot ramped up another notch after the FA Cup drubbing at Manchester City on Sunday.

Erling Haaland scored a hat-trick as the Reds fell to their heaviest loss in the competition for 80 years on Saturday afternoon, crashing out at the quarter-final stage as Mohamed Salah also missed a late penalty in what was almost certainly his final appearance in the competition.

With Slot reported to achieved one of three conditions that’ll see Liverpool mercifully sack him, the focus remains on will be the next man in the Anfield hotseat.

Up until now, that man has been former Liverpool midfielder Alonso, who was sacked by Real Madrid earlier in the year and is free to take the job should it be offered.

Questions have even been asked if the Reds could actually pull the trigger on Slot’s tenure if they suffer a heavy defeat in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals against holders Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday night.

Indeed, talkSPORT‘s Adrian Durham put that very question to veteran commentator Jim Proudfoot, who explained why the Merseysiders may even make a move for Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola instead.

“There will definitely be a decision to be made,” he said. “I reckon, with no inside track, that they will keep faith with him, because he’s got enough in the bank over what happened over the course of last season, that they would stick with him for the rest of this season.

“All that would matter is that they finish in the top five to make sure that they were playing Champions League football again next season.”

Hughes influence gives Iraola a shot

“I think some of the people that you could imagine being his successor are already available. Some of those aren’t, Andoni Iraola for instance.

“Richard Hughes, Liverpool’s technical director, is a massive admirer. Brought him in at Bournemouth, he’s done nothing at Bournemouth that would mean his stock has dropped in any way.

“He’s out of contract in the summer, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he was one that they wanted to speak to, along with the likes of Xabi Alonso and everybody else.”

Proudfoot added: “So, I would think that there’s got to be a chance that he [Slot] will still be in (the job) in the summer, but will he still be there at the start of next season?

“I think that all depends on what happens from here on in.”

Slot is certainly in need of a positive result against Luis Enrique’s side, with the current PSG boss himself one of the favourites with the bookies to take over at Anfield.

A close friend of Mohamed Salah has delivered one of the real reasons behind the Liverpool legend’s impending exit, and it comes amid claims from current Reds chief Arne Slot that he has ‘no regrets’ over the Egyptian winger’s decision to quit Merseyside.

Elsewhere, Marcos Senesi is facing an anxious wait to discover whether he will land a dream move to Barcelona this summer, TEAMtalk can reveal, while Liverpool and other Premier League sides keep a close eye on the Bournemouth star.