Liverpool: Slot successor at Anfield already named as Belgian 'will replace' Dutchman 'within two years'

Feyenoord manager Arne Slot will be replaced at Liverpool “within two years” by Club Brugge boss Nicky Hayen, according to one journalist.

The Reds have reportedly made their decision to appoint Slot as their new manager after Jurgen Klopp announced earlier this year that he will be leaving at the end of the season to take a break from football.

Sporting Lisbon’s Ruben Amorim and Bayer Leverkusen’s Xabi Alonso were the early frontrunners for the role but Liverpool eventually selected Slot as their top candidate.

His imminent appointment has not been met with total positivity with former Sky Sports presenter Richard Keys claiming Slot is just Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag “in disguise”.

Keys wrote in his blog: “I’m trying to put myself in the shoes of Liverpool fans. Am I excited? No. Am I surprised? Yes. I’m underwhelmed if I’m honest, seriously. I couldn’t give you the name of a Dutch manager who has succeeded in our league yet.

“There have been one or two, like [Guus] Hiddink or [Louis] van Gaal and Ruud Gullit, who have had limited success, but nobody over a period of time has had sustained success. I think he’s Erik ten Hag in disguise.”

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And former Man Utd midfielder Owen Hargreaves thinks Liverpool fans “deserve somebody that has been there and done it in and around this level” unlike Slot.

“He is a top coach, he really is,” Hargreaves said on Premier League Productions. “Possession. They dominate the ball. He loves the high press and the high intensity. No doubt that he is a top coach.

“I just think coming from that league, we have seen it with Dutch managers coming over here, they find it very different. I think Liverpool deserve somebody that has been there and done it in and around this level.

“I think that was picked from the data. You look at the data from the way Arne Slot’s side play, it’s all really high possession and high press.

“The problem is, you aren’t going to have, you see with ten Hag at Manchester United, you aren’t going to have that over here. You need something a little different. If you play that way and that open, you see with Ange’s side at Tottenham, then you are going to get counter-attacked.

“I don’t think he can win the league playing that way. Yes, it’s a good style. Look at Ancelotti at Real Madrid, he finds a way and tweaks it. I find with young managers now, their philosophy is more important than what happens results-wise and that’s not right.”

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Journalist Jan Mulder reckons Club Brugge head coach Hayen will be at Liverpool replacing Slot “within two years”.

Mulder said: “Halfway through March, the situation in which the proud Club Brugge found itself was so dire that the usual scenario was adopted in gloomy times: head coach Deila was dismissed, Nicky Hayen from Club NXT was appointed as interim.

“Nicky Hayen will be festively appointed manager of Club Brugge on the day of the Belgian championship and will put in a series of games in the Champions League next year, attracting the attention of Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Bayern and Manchester.

“Nasser Al-Khelaifi of Paris Saint-Germain also joins the fight for his signature at the last minute. Personally, I think that the great Nicky Hayen will replace Arne Slot as manager of Liverpool within two years.”

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