Tottenham sign Japan teenage defender Toko Koga from Feyenoord.

Football news and analysis from the around the world The Rumour Mill: Garnacho set for Villa? | And email Yara Liverpool’s pursuit of Florian Wirtz has been no secret. The club fought off interest from Manchester City and Bayern Munich with the German only wanting to join Arne Slot’s side. The 22-year-old has spent his entire senior career at Bayer Leverkusen. He was instrumental in breaking the chokehold Munich have on the Bundesliga by helping his side win the league and cup double in 2023-24. Last season, Leverkusen finished runners-up to the German giants. Continue reading...

Today’s rumours are ingratiating mothers It is a wingers special for today’s tittle-tattle. Starting with Liverpool’s willingness to splash £100m on Paris Saint-Germain’s Bradley Barcola. Arne Slot has already signed Jeremie Frimpong and is set to add creativity in the form of Florian Wirtz. Naturally, there is not a bottomless pit of cash at Anfield, so they would be open to selling Luis Díaz, Diogo Jota and Darwin Núñez to fund the spending. After it was confirmed that Jadon Sancho will not be joining Chelsea permanently, his next move is a hot topic of conversation. Manchester United will be quite eager to earn some cash in exchange for the winger, so the prospect of Aston Villa, Newcastle and Tottenham are considering a potential move for the 25-year-old. Continue reading...

Liverpool boss Arne Slot thanks "the wider football community" for its support as he is named manager of the year and Premier League manager of the year at the LMA awards.

Head coach was due to receive two awards in London ‘A decision I have not taken lightly but is absolutely right’ Arne Slot pulled out of the League Managers Association’s annual awards dinner in London on Tuesday after the appalling incident at the end of Liverpool’s Premier League victory parade. The Liverpool head coach was due to receive the LMA’s and the Premier League’s manager of the year awards at the event for winning the title in his first season in English football. However, in light of the incident in Liverpool city centre on Monday, when 65 people were injured when a car drove into a crowd on Water Street, Slot and a senior delegation of Liverpool officials decided they should not attend. Continue reading...

Two of our 20 predictions were accurate – and we were right about Spurs qualifying for the Champions League What we predicted: Arne Slot admits he had “big shoes to fill” after Jürgen Klopp’s departure. They may be impossible to fill in terms of rapport with supporters, force of personality and authority. But, in the more important fields of winning and developing this Liverpool team, Slot will back himself to make his mark. There is space for improvement. Continue reading...

Arne Slot’s first season could not have gone any better while Wolves fans drank to Vítor Pereira’s arrival By winning the league, the Dutchman surprised pretty much everyone. He faced the daunting task of succeeding Jürgen Klopp and inherited the German’s squad, adding only Federico Chiesa, who barely kicked a ball in anger. Not much changed from the previous year, except Ryan Gravenberch became the designated defensive midfielder as Slot’s Liverpool looked to get on the ball as much as possible. Slot was never going to be a personality who generated headlines like Klopp did, keeping his cards close to his chest, but he always comes across as someone who is very personable and has brought the players closer together. Slot made Liverpool an efficient winning machine – rarely thrashing teams, often winning by the odd goal or two – and that allowed them to race to a second Premier League title. No one could compete with the Reds, which was partly down to rivals dropping their standards but most of it can be attributed to the fact Slot made his team superior. Continue reading...

Arsenal’s WCL glory | Sunderland up | Dons win Cup Live scores | Fixtures | Tables | And get in touch Some lovely messages BTL. Here’s Arne Slot talking about – wait for it – Bruce Springsteen: You talk about elite mentality. This guy’s been doing it for 50-odd years and he’s still putting on three-hour shows in front of 25,000 people. I’ve heard how he does this, what he does in his daily life, talking about habits, how disciplined he is to achieve this. Springsteen, at 75, is still able to do three hours on stage without even one minute of rest. He took three or four drinks of what I assume was water. Continue reading...

Liverpool coach went to see the Boss at Manchester ‘At 75, he does three hours on stage with no rest’ Arne Slot believes his Liverpool players can take inspiration from Bruce Springsteen as they aim to repeat the success of winning the Premier League next season. The Dutchman went to see the Boss behind enemy lines in Manchester on Tuesday night to witness a masterclass of a different kind. Liverpool will be awarded the Premier League trophy by Alan Hansen after their final game of the season against Crystal Palace on Sunday. The next challenge for Slot will come when his players return for pre-season training on 8 July and the Dutchman waits to see if his squad can build on the glory days achieved during his first season in charge. Continue reading...

Coach would have been put off by rival candidates Jürgen Klopp back at Anfield for trophy presentation Arne Slot has said he would not have taken the Liverpool job had he been one of several candidates to replace Jürgen Klopp and that he can envisage managing at Anfield as long as his renowned predecessor. Klopp will return to Anfield on Sunday for the first time since stepping down, to see Liverpool lift the Premier League trophy. Slot said it would be a proud moment to raise the trophy in front of his predecessor, who built this title-winning squad, and that he would not have left Feyenoord but for Richard Hughes, Liverpool’s sporting director, making clear he was “the only one” the club wanted. Continue reading...

Liverpool’s penalty shootout hero in the 2005 Champions League final against Milan reflects on the ‘Miracle of Istanbul’ and how it changed his life Twenty years on from that double save, those spaghetti legs and the miracle of Liverpool’s fifth European Cup triumph and Turkey has not lost the capacity to make a champion out of Jerzy Dudek. “I won the Turkish Open golf last week and it reminded me a bit of Istanbul,” the former Liverpool goalkeeper says. “It is my favourite place, my lucky place, and it stays with me all the time. If I go on holiday to Turkey I always go with a big smile.” Sunday promises to have the same effect on everyone associated with Liverpool. The presentation of the Premier League trophy to Arne Slot’s champions at Anfield coincides with the 20th anniversary of the “Miracle of Istanbul”, when Liverpool overcame a 3-0 half-time deficit to defeat Milan on penalties in the Champions League final. Not that any Liverpool fan needs reminding of the details. The sights and sounds of Ataturk Stadium remain as vivid to Dudek now as they were on 25 May, 2005. Continue reading...

Liverpool manager Arne Slot reflects on their title-winning season and speaks about his celebrations in Ibiza.

In a wide-ranging interview with the BBC, Liverpool boss Arne Slot says excuses are "for teams that don't win the league".

Not many at Old Trafford are suited to the manager’s trusty 3-4-2-1 but replacing them will cost hundreds of millions Everything always seems clearer in the morning, and in the cold grey light of Thursday, the prognosis for Manchester United is bleak. While Tottenham face an awkward calculation – weighing up whether the delirium of a first European trophy in 41 years offsets their worst league season in terms of proportion of games lost – for Manchester United the equation is far starker. Ruben Amorim will only play in one way. He is committed absolutely, uncompromisingly, irrevocably to the 3-4-2-1. Liverpool considered him, looked at their squad, realised the two things did not go together, appointed Arne Slot and won the league. Manchester United looked at their squad, flinched at the horror, and seem to have reasoned it was such a mess that it was impossible to find a manager whose philosophy would fit. There was a dissenting voice, Dan Ashworth, but at the court of Sir Jim Ratcliffe, reasoned doubts are as unwelcome as a free lunch. Continue reading...