Jurgen Klopp is leaving the role of Liverpool manager vacant in the summer, but it seems Arne Slot will not be taking on the exact same job.
Instead, Slot is set to be named as the new ‘head coach’, rather than manager of Liverpool FC, according to Jonathan Northcroft of the Times.
The journalist wrote that Liverpool are preparing “for a shift away from the traditional British football club structure.
“The Dutchman, 45, is expected to be happy with that status, having spent his coaching career working in the same head coach/sporting director model that Liverpool are poised to adopt.”
While the role of head coach does encompass much of what a traditional managerial job would entail, it takes away some of the responsibility for off-field affairs.
This is an area Klopp has had increasing control of in recent years, and is thought to be partly why the returning Michael Edwards left his job as sporting director in 2022.
With Klopp now on his way out, Liverpool are restructuring and that has seen the return of Edwards, though he will be employed by FSG as CEO of Football, rather than by the club itself.
Beneath him, Richard Hughes is arriving to take the sporting director role, having previously worked with Edwards when they met at Portsmouth while Hughes was a player.
Subsequently, he developed to become sporting director at Bournemouth before his present move to Merseyside.
Northcroft continued: “Liverpool believe the new structure is more appropriate to the complexities and demands of the modern game and that it will give the man in charge of their first team — the head coach — more support to do his job, not less.”
While Slot isn’t yet confirmed to be the new head coach, the deal is very close, with the Athletic reporting that a compensation fee of £11-12 million has been agreed between Liverpool and Feyenoord.
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