Inside Arne Slot's Tottenham manager U-turn as Liverpool make Jurgen Klopp replacement plan

A familiar name to Tottenham fans may well be in the Liverpool dugout come the start of the 2024/25 Premier League campaign. Following January's shock news that Jurgen Klopp will depart as Liverpool manager at the end of the current season, the Reds are on the lookout to find his long-term replacement.

The Carabao Cup winners have a monumental task on their hands trying to find the German's successor and whoever takes on the hotseat has huge shoes to fill at Anfield. Previously looking like former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso would return to Merseyside going on his fine work in Germany with Bayer Leverkusen, the Spaniard recently committed his future to the Bundesliga club and that has left everyone questioning who will win the race for the Liverpool job over the coming weeks.

Tottenham head coach Ange Postecoglou was previously mentioned in regards to the hotseat after making a wonderful start to his Premier League career following his Celtic exit. Quizzed in press conferences about the speculation and the fact that he supported Liverpool growing up, the Australian quickly dismissed all the talk of a move north.

Sporting CP boss Ruben Amorim, who was previously linked with replacing Antonio Conte at Tottenham prior to Postecoglou's appointment, has been tipped to become the Reds' next manager but he is now no longer the favourite with the bookmakers to be appointed. It is Feyenoord's Arne Slot who has seen his odds slashed dramatically over the past 24 hours to become favourite having been a 50/1 outsider previously. The highly-rated manager is now a leading candidate to replace Klopp at Anfield.

Tottenham supporters will be well aware of Slot's work in Rotterdam as he looked on course to replace Conte at the helm almost one year ago. Having transformed his Feyenoord side following a major rebuild and managed to guide them to the Europa Conference League final in his first season at the club, the 45-year-old led his players to the Eredivisie title twelve months later.

Doing so by playing an attractive brand of football and developing youth team players and his signings in the transfer market, it was no surprise why Tottenham were interested in securing Slot's services in their quest to get back to their previous heights. Spurs themselves needed to undergo a major rebuild and the Dutchman appeared to be the perfect candidate going on his fine work in Rotterdam.

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There was to be a twist in the tale, though. Odds-on to swap Feyenoord for Tottenham and looking on the verge of departing De Kuip, Slot instead produced a U-turn and penned a new contract with the Dutch club to extend his Feyenoord stay. It was a decision that only plunged Spurs' managerial search into even more chaos.

Since electing to remain with the Eredivisie side, Slot has once again had Feyenoord challenging at the top of the league but they are on course to lose their crown with PSV holding a nine-point advantage over them with four games remaining. Their Champions League campaign unfortunately came to an early end after finishing third in a group containing Atletico Madrid, Lazio and Celtic, with a Europa League exit then following in February after losing on penalties to Roma in the knockout round play-offs.

Slot has managed to lead Feyenoord to another piece of silverware, though, after his team secured a 1-0 win over NEC Nijmegen in the KNVB Cup final on Sunday evening. That could well be his last trophy in Rotterdam if he is to make the move to the Premier League one year on from all the Tottenham speculation.

Whoever replaces Klopp at Liverpool has an incredibly tough act to follow. It's no surprise to see why Slot's odds for the job have tumbled by some way over the past couple of days given what he's achieved with Feyenoord.

Completing a successful rebuild of the club and implementing an attacking-brand of football that is easy on the eye, Slot is also not afraid to put his trust in youth, something which will no doubt please Reds fans given the likes of Conor Bradley who have starred for the first team recently. Slot is also someone who has enjoyed great success in the transfer market and managed to take players - both current ones and new signings - to greater heights.

While it may be Klopp in the Anfield dugout for one last time when Tottenham visit Anfield at the start of May, it could be a familiar name in Slot in charge of the Reds when Spurs make the trip to Merseyside next campaign. Time will tell if that is to be the case.

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