Liverpool make huge Arne Slot sack decision with new coach to be appointed | OneFootball

Key moves being made before final game of the season

Liverpool are set to give the clearest indication yet that Arne Slot is staying as manager.

Slot has faced a mountain of speculation regarding his future this season after the Reds' Premier League title defence started strongly but faded quickly.

A miserable run of six defeats in seven games between September and November all but ended Liverpool's hopes of securing back-to-back titles, as Manchester City and Arsenal battled it out until the Gunners' triumph earlier this week.

Slot this week would have seen rumours, which gathered steam, claiming that this Sunday's game against Brentford would be his last as Liverpool manager despite the message out of the club long being one backing the manager.

Staying put: Arne Slot

PA

Other outlets recently reported that Liverpool have made a U-turn on their support of Slot, and even going as far as drawing up a list of managerial targets the club had identified. Luis Enrique, who is set to guide Paris Saint-Germain to a back-to-back Champions League finals, was top of the shortlist.

But it now, again, appears that Slot is staying out.

The Telegraph reports that, in a huge show of commitment to the head coach, Liverpool owners FSG have approved the appointment of long-standing Slot ally Etienne Reijnen.

Slot and Reijnen have known each other since 2010, and the former appointed the latter to his Feyenoord technical team years later in 2023 before they won the Eredivisie together.

Reijnen had hoped to follow Slot to Anfield a year later, but work permit issues saw him stay put and work alongside successor Robin van Persie.

Those issue are no longer a problem, and the 39-year-old set-piece specialist will now link up with his friend on Merseyside.

The report adds that the intention still remains at Liverpool to give Slot another chance to impress, having won the league title in his first season in charge but struggled throughout his second.

Slot will be aware that he does not have the backing of large sections of the fanbase, and the outgoing Mohamed Salah's social-media activity continues to further undermine him.

Salah will be given an Anfield farewell on Sunday in his final game, though it remains to be seen if Slot will afforded the 'Egyptian King' a start.=