Arne Slot hands Newcastle £40m PSR lifeline as Liverpool get hint at future

When Liverpool decided to move for Arne Slot as Jurgen Klopp’s successor, part of their thinking was the Dutchman’s similar style of play to the departing Reds boss.

Conducting his first interview with the club last week after officially starting as Liverpool’s new head coach at the start of the month, it was a fact Slot quickly addressed directly.

“I think there are and I think that is also one of the reasons why I came in,” he conceded. “Because I think the way Liverpool 'scouted' me, they were looking for, not the exact same type, but I think when something has been successful [with] a certain way of playing you would like to extend this or to go on with this. This is probably one of the reasons they came to me as well.

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“Yeah, it is my style but I think it is the style of many modern coaches at the moment: we were all a bit inspired because of the rivalry between City and Liverpool.

“We were all inspired by Guardiola and Klopp and I think at a big club, which I worked in in Feyenoord as well, it is probably the only style you can play - to have the ball a lot, to have a lot of energy, and I think also now there are comparisons between the club I left behind and the club I am going to work for now.”

Yet that wasn’t Liverpool’s only reasoning, with club bosses also impressed by Slot’s track record of developing and improving players. Inevitably, this includes a willingness to utilise a club’s young talents.

The success of the Reds’ academy will be Klopp’s Liverpool legacy in years to come, with the German utilising a plethora of starlets right across his nine-year Anfield reign.

In his last season alone, 18 different academy graduates featured for the Liverpool first team, with seven directly involved in their historic League Cup final win over Chelsea in February.

While the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott, and Caoimhin Kelleher graduated from the Academy long ago, having long since established themselves in Klopp’s first team, last season saw Conor Bradley and Jarell Quansah join them in the senior ranks, with the likes of Bobby Clark, Ben Doak, and James McConnell also becoming matchday squad regulars.

This production line is something that will continue under Slot, long after Klopp’s departure.

"[The manager will inherit] a fantastic squad. A fantastic squad…,” the German pointed out in May. “"You always can [improve] but the basis is absolutely great.

“Look at the age of the midfield, really top. Stefan Bajcetic is back, that’s really cool. A centre-half if you have to buy him, you have to go really deep into the pockets. A right-back, if you need to buy one, you have to go really deep into your pockets.

"Stefan, if you want to have a player like that, it’s really expensive. Up front, Jayden Danns, Lewis Koumas, Bobby Clark, James McConnell, they all did really well. That is the future of the club.

“Some will be here, some will go on loan, some will be sold. That’s all part of the thing. The basis we created is really good and that was the job I thought and how I understood that I had to do.”

Slot will understand it too, of course, otherwise he would not have been selected as Klopp’s successor. While a club’s academy stars are at the mercy of their manager to call upon them, club bosses know they already possess the talent down at Kirkby so needed a new head coach who would keep that door open.

And a recent admission from Shola Ameobi, Newcastle United’s loans coordinator, will have proven to be music to Liverpool ears.

The former Nigeria international has been stationed in the post for the past five years, having hung up his playing boots in 2018. As a result, he played a significant role in Yankuba Minteh’s loan move to Feyenoord last summer.

The 19-year-old joined the Magpies from Danish side OB in a €7m deal last June and was immediately sent on loan to the then reigning Eredivisie champions to work under Slot. A record of 11 goals and six assists from 37 appearances, while winning the KNVB Cup and qualifying for the Champions League, it would prove to be the most successful of temporary stints.

Indeed, Minteh is now valued at around £40m and is expected to be Newcastle's lifeline as with the PSR deadline looming on Sunday.

Ameobi recently shared his delight at Minteh’s success in Holland, and paid tribute to Slot for his involvement in the Gambian’s development.

"Yankuba Minteh done amazingly this year,” Ameobi told the Chronicle. “I think the vision for him was to see if he could play at that level.

“It was a big jump coming from Denmark with Odense but what he's done and the attitude he's got he's achieved that. He is athletically gifted but we knew he would develop tactically and technically.

"Over the last six months, he's come on leaps and bounds. It was great having a manager like Arne Slot developing young players like that."

Trusted to help develop Minteh, Newcastle got what they were after from Slot and Feyenoord. And if the Dutchman can do it for the former Magpies loanee, he can do it for Liverpool’s youngsters.

Given that Klopp has spent the past nine years in charge of the Reds, constantly handing out opportunities to the club’s deserving youngsters, there would always be a sense of trepidation regarding whether that will continue under his success. But Ameobi’s praise should put Liverpool’s academy at ease.

The League Cup final win over Chelsea last season was without a doubt their finest hour. But with Slot at the helm, the door to the first team remains firmly open. It’s just up to the players themselves to walk through it while working under the guidance of the club’s new head coach.