Florian Wirtz will play key role in appointment of Arne Slot successor | OneFootball

Arne Slot is under pressure at Liverpool.

The Dutch head coach - who was brought in from Feyenoord in 2024 - got his Anfield career off to the best possible start. The 47-year-old won the Premier League title at the first time of asking - but it’s become decidedly more difficult in the months since.

Richard Hughes oversaw a spending spree worth £450m last summer but Liverpool have faded badly in the 2025/26 season. There is zero chance of a repeat of their title win - and honours in other competitions are going to be hard to come by too.

Galatasaray maintain a 1-0 lead in the Champions League round of 16 while the Anfield club face Manchester City in the FA Cup quarter-finals.

Xabi Alonso emerges as LFC option

With a contract expiring in 2027 it would not cost FSG a fortune to sack Slot - and attention would then turn on who comes to replace him.

And a report in TEAMtalk now suggests that the signing of Florian Wirtz will be a decisive factor in appointing a successor. Wirtz, 22, came on board from Bayer Leverkusen last summer for a fee that could reach £116m.

The German international however is yet to hit the heights he reached under Xabi Alonso in the Bundesliga.

And given the playmaker’s form under the Spaniard Liverpool may well come to the realisation that the 44-year-old former midfielder is the best man for the job.

Wirtz 'wanted to' play under Alonso

Alonso wanted Wirtz at Real Madrid last summer but the Spanish giants ultimately pulled out. And no doubt the Liverpool No7 would jump at the chance to work again under Alonso.

“And the one big thing here… Florian Wirtz,” the report reads. "Who turned him into one of Europe’s most wanted players? Who does Wirtz love playing for? Alonso.

“Let’s not forget, before signing for Liverpool, they tried to get Real Madrid to sign him.

“The reason behind that was not money or his love for the Spanish capital – he wanted to play for Alonso again.”

Alonso had a special role for Wirtz in his Leverkusen team - and he also got the best out of Jeremie Frimpong.

Liverpool’s squad-building meanwhile makes it seem as though the club is moving towards a three-man defensive system - a formation which brought great success to Alonso at the BayArena.

He is now out of work having lost his job at Madrid - meaning there are no obstacles in the way should Hughes decide to offer him the role.