Liverpool were so put out by Gary Neville’s claim on Sky Sports that Arne Slot was their ‘third choice’ behind Xabi Alonso and Ruben Amorim to succeed former manager Jurgen Klopp they briefly contemplated demanding a public retraction, according to the Telegraph.
Several names were linked with the Reds job after the German announced in January that he was going to be stepping down at the end of the 2023-24 campaign.
However, Slot was the only coach offered the Liverpool job after Klopp left, with talks between sporting director Richard Hughes and Alonso’s agent Inaki Ibanez never formally going beyond an enquiry.
Many fans wanted the Bayer Leverkusen manager to succeed Klopp after he established himself as an Anfield legend during his playing days, but the Spaniard was not ready to leave the Bundesliga club, eventually leading them to the league title at the end of 2023-24.
Slot left Feyenoord to take over from the German, and he has hit the ground running in the English top-flight, with the Merseyside club top of the Premier League table after ten games in 2024-25.
Liverpool have won eight league games so far and have lost just once, and many are tipping them to strongly challenge Manchester City and Arsenal for the title this term.
They have also been impressive in the group phase of the Champions League, securing impressive victories against AC Milan, Bologna and RB Leipzig.
Liverpool host Alonso and his team tonight in the elite European competition, and while the fans will be giving him a rousing reception, Slot and his boys will be looking to ensure he leaves empty-handed.
The former Reds midfielder has already been linked with taking over from Carlo Ancelotti at Real Madrid going forward, but many believe he is destined to manage Liverpool one day, and he will get a glance of what to expect from Anfield tonight if that happens going forward.
