'Arne Slot is like a God to us and he’s already said emotional goodbye before Liverpool move'

Liverpool is down to just two games left under the management of Jürgen Klopp: a trip to Aston Villa on Monday and then the final Anfield match of the campaign against Wolves. But while the emotional goodbye is just around the corner for the Reds, Arne Slot's biggest send-off has already taken place at Feyenoord.

While it has not officially been confirmed yet, Slot will be the man to take over from Klopp this summer, arriving on Merseyside having never coached outside of the Netherlands. But those who know him best — Feyenoord fans — believe that he is the right fit to take on such a job, and there is no begrudging Slot his big move.

"There is a lot of feeling involved," Wesley van Oevelen from Kein Geloel, a Feyenoord podcast, tells Liverpool.com. "It has been quite emotional in the last few weeks. Last year, he made us champions for the first time in six years. Then we expected him to leave because Tottenham came and not a lot of managers would say no to a big team in the Premier League. We were surprised and really happy for him to stay.

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"This year wasn't as successful as the year before, although the football is better. And we knew if there was a top-five team in Europe coming for him, there was no chance that he was going to say no.

"We really love him to bits and he is like a God to us in Rotterdam. When we first heard he was going to leave, it was very difficult not to be sad. What he did to our club was amazing."

Slot has been open about the move to Liverpool and a deal has been agreed even though no official announcement has come yet. But Feyenoord fans are not unhappy with him having spoken about wanting to move to Anfield so publicly.

"Last year, when the Tottenham rumors were there, he never said anything. He was very political and said there was no news," Van Oevelen says. "He played the guy that didn't know anything, but this was different.

"From the first moment, he was quite open about it. There was a game against Go Ahead Eagles and he said he really wanted to go to Liverpool and he hoped that Feyenoord was willing to cooperate. That wasn't the thing that I wanted to hear, but it's OK — he is very open with the media.

"He was always very open about the process and he communicates very well. He is always very transparent towards the fans, and this is just how he is. He never speaks with a bad word about Feyenoord, so that's alright."

Last weekend, Feyenoord fans got the chance to wave him off. There is still one more home match remaining for Slot (on the same day as Klopp's last Anfield fixture, next weekend) but that will not be the same.

"The last game, against Zwolle, was like an early goodbye," Van Oevelen explains. "The last game of the season, Feyenoord has a fine — they are not allowed to play with the stadium full. The hardcore fans will not be there and that is very sad, so last Sunday already felt like a goodbye.

"I've never experienced something like that. The last 10 minutes, the crowd started singing for Slot and Sipke Hulshoff, who is probably going to Liverpool also. You could feel the emotions in the stadium and Arne Slot was getting emotional. He is leaving a very special project and sometimes in life, it is sad when things go like this — but we expected that one day it would happen.

"We play Excelsior in the last home game and the supporters will make some kind of banner or something but it will not be so special as last Sunday, because then the stadium was full. It will be emotional, for sure."