As of April 2025, Arne Slot has been a resounding success at Liverpool. He will end his first season in English football having led the Reds to only their second-ever Premier League title.
Having arrived as a relatively unproven prospect in the summer of 2024, heading to Anfield after spells in charge of Dutch teams Cambuur, AZ, and Feyenoord, he has taken many British football fans by surprise. That said, he wasn't a complete unknown.
After all, having won Eredivisie and the KNVB Cup with Feyenoord, as well as making the UEFA Conference League final in 2022, the 46-year-old had steadily proven himself to be one of the most talented managers emerging on the European footballing landscape. As such, Liverpool weren't the first Premier League club to consider appointing the Dutchman.
Tottenham Hotspur Were Close To Appointing Arne Slot
Ended up with Ange Postecoglou instead
In April 2023, Tottenham Hotspur were on the lookout for a new manager after Antonio Conte sas sacked with 10 games left of the season. Per the Athletic, Spurs employed an external data analytics company to assess all potentially available managers on the suitability of their playing style, their capacity to improve both teams and individual players. This led them to two men, Ange Postecoglou and the aforementioned Slot.
“Because of the way we work here, the way I work with my staff, the players we have, the facilities we have. And the thing is, I think the possibilities we have here in the near future, and the longer-term future, are still challenging for me. We are going to play Champions League, which I have never done before, as a player or as a coach, which I am looking forward to. The club is in a really good place. I felt I want to work for longer, based on the project, to see what comes from that. Because you go every time, after one or two successful seasons. But in the end, where and what are you then? Sometimes you also have to cherish what you have.”
However, respected Dutch journalist Henk Spaan has since claimed that Slot was bending the truth.
Dutch Journalist Claims Slot Did Not Reject Spurs
"Slot is now pretending that he pulled the plug"
As quoted on the On the Hard Gras podcast in April 2024, via Soccer News, Spaan claimed that he was annoyed by Slot's statements, which made it seem as though he was the one to pull the plug on the negotiations with Spurs. He said it was not a decision made by the Feyenoord manager, but rather an issue from Tottenham's end.
Indeed, in typical Daniel Levy fashion, it seems as though the English club were not willing to pay enough money to convince Feyenoord director Dennis te Kloese to let the head coach leave. With that in mind, Spaan claimed that Slot had subsequently lied on three occasions about turning Spurs down, saying :
“So he’s said that three times, but Spurs stopped negotiating. Dennis te Kloese thought it was a worthless offer.
"Slot is now pretending that he pulled the plug, but that is simply not the case. Tottenham Hotspur simply did not want to pay anymore."
This version of events is backed up somewhat by the Athletic, who have since confirmed that Tottenham never officially offered Slot the position. Jack Pitt-Brooke explained: "Tottenham were clear that they had not offered Slot the job, and that he had therefore not turned it down."
However, muddying the situation, it's also explained that Te Kloese played down the idea that formal talks between the two clubs ever occurred. Even so, Pitt-Brooke added: "Clearly, the talks between intermediaries were sufficiently promising for some people at both clubs to believe that Slot would ultimately be on his way to north London."
Whatever the truth, Spurs' loss is Liverpool's gain. Slot will have delivered a Premier League title in his first season with the Reds, and also took them to a League Cup final.