A new era has begun at Liverpool after Jurgen Klopp’s emotional farewell at Anfield on Sunday.
Klopp ended his eight-and-a-half-year stint with a 2-0 win over Wolves which became incidental to the day. He will soon be replaced by Arne Slot and things are already in motion behind the scenes at the club.
The Dutchman has now been officially confirmed as the next Liverpool manager and he faces a difficult task to fill the shoes of Klopp following an era of success. Klopp gave his approval in the form of a chant during his farewell speech and the Reds were willing to shell out £9.4million to land the man they believe is the perfect replacement.
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With a new manager in place and the summer transfer window now just around the corner in June, there is lots to ponder on Merseyside. So with that in mind, here are the latest headlines from Mirror Football.
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Benitez raises Slot doubts
Slot does not officially start his new role until June 1, but he has already been given some sage advice from a former Liverpool manager. Slot is swapping Feyenoord for Liverpool and will no doubt encounter some problems in his new role.
"If you ask my opinion on what awaits Arne Slot, it is important to remember the context because you have to compare Liverpool now to when I joined in 2004," Rafa Benitez wrote for The Telegraph. "Following Jurgen Klopp is not easy, but the most important question for any manager going into a new club is always, ‘How good are the players?’ and ‘Can they fit how we want to play?’.”
Benitez suggested that the increased media scrutiny could be problematic for Slot, while he also stressed that the first few signings of his era will be “massive”. Benitez himself signed Xabi Alonso and Luis Garcia and the two fellow Spaniards made an immediate impact, to help his transition.
Arne Slot is taking over from Jurgen Klopp (Bart Stoutjesdijk/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)Salah transfer advice
Liverpool have been told they should sell Mohamed Salah this summer, if a Saudi Arabian club is willing to pay £100m. Salah has indicated that he is going to stay put and play for Slot next season, but he is out of contract in June 2025 and has attracted lots of interest from elsewhere.
Danny Murphy said on talkSPORT : “I wouldn’t sell Salah unless he’s saying, 'I want to go'. [But] it depends on the amount. He’s 31 years old, [if] £100million comes in and he wants to go, he’s got to go.”
He added: “If I got £100million for Salah, I’d give the £100million to Palace and take [Michael] Olise and [Eberechi] Eze, I’d get two for the price of one.”
Reds knock £300k off the wage bill
Klopp isn’t the only person leaving Liverpool this summer: defender Joel Matip and midfielder Thiago Alcantara are also saying goodbye to the club. And their exits will clear a fair bit of room on the wage bill.
The Liverpool duo will depart the club as free agents when their contracts expire on July 1, taking their respective salaries of £100,000 and £200,000 a week with them. Thiago was injured throughout the season but he is currently the third-highest earner at the club, behind only Salah and Virgil van Dijk.
His departure will see Trent Alexander-Arnold move up to third in the pecking order, unless some high-profile new signings arrive this summer.
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