11 hours ago 2

'Lacked that authority Jurgen had'

There were question marks over whether the players truly believed in Arne Slot's methods.

One club source, who was also at Liverpool during Jurgen Klopp's tenure, said: "Arne's a great person but you always felt he lacked that authority Jurgen had and that became more evident when things weren't going well on the pitch."

The departure of veterans Mohamed Salah, Andy Robertson and now Ibrahima Konate is telling too.

Slot was never going to be Klopp but he won the Premier League title at the first time of asking and deserves immense credit for that. For that alone, he will be a part of Liverpool's illustrious history.

The understanding is that FSG initially backed Slot to rebuild the supporter faith that has waned considerably during this campaign's struggles.

But, as the season concluded, the belief became that delaying the decision which looked increasingly inevitable would be unfair on the squad and damaging to preparations for 2026-27.

Andoni Iraola is the leading candidate and contact has already been made, with his immediate availability also playing a part in severing ties with Slot.

For Slot, there is no bad blood with Liverpool, but he is of the belief that he has been dealt a tough card with the situation this past season.

Liverpool's points tally fell from 84 in 2024-25 to 60 in 2025-26; with the swing of minus 24 the biggest drop by any ever-present Premier League side across two campaigns.

There was no sign of Liverpool reversing that shift in the last few months of the season.

Slot finished his first campaign lifting the Premier League trophy in front of the Kop and ended his second sitting alone in the dugout. That was six days ago, when it seemed entirely like Liverpool were sticking with the Dutchman.

But modern-day football is brutal. This is a club firmly in transition and, sadly for Slot, Liverpool want a new man to manage that change.