Arne Slot immediately makes Liverpool change as plan for first summer takes shape

Arne Slot has signed a three-year deal to take over from Jürgen Klopp at Liverpool. In his in-tray during the first summer of his tenure, there are plenty of tasks to be getting stuck into alongside sporting director Richard Hughes and the rest of the backroom staff.

New contracts for key trio Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold should be high up on the agenda while getting the best from Darwin Núñez needs to be a priority. Slot will be responsible chiefly for coaching the team and implementing the tactics, with a new group of players to get used to.

In order to give himself the best chance of achieving that, The Telegraph reports that Liverpool will return to pre-season training a week earlier than initially planned with Slot wanting to maximize the amount of time he has to get acclimatized to his new environment. While his style is not hugely different in a tactical sense from what Liverpool has played under Klopp, he will still need to adapt to life at the training center in Kirkby and the new staff around him.

READ MORE: Arne Slot move now makes even more sense as Liverpool transfer chief's verdict emerges
READ MORE: Mohamed Salah responds to Arne Slot appointment with clearest Liverpool transfer hint yet

With this summer containing both a Copa America and the European Championship in Germany, most senior Liverpool players will check in for pre-season training later than Slot does, with stars gradually being added back into the group. Liverpool's players will begin to return for the summer during the first week of July, but those involved in international tournaments will come back later.

The likes of Van Dijk (Netherlands) and Dominik Szoboszlai (Hungary) will be at the European Championship while Alisson Becker is in the Brazil squad for the Copa America and Alexis Mac Allister will be with Argentina. Those who can come back on day one of pre-season could include Harvey Elliott, Joe Gomez and Curtis Jones, who are likely to miss out on representing England.

As Slot comes in, there will be chances for a clean slate for players who have been on the periphery this season. Big decisions will need to be made on the likes of Tyler Morton and Fábio Carvalho, who impressed on loan at Hull City, while Stefan Bajčetić will have a full summer to get back to 100 per cent sharpness again after missing the majority of last season through injury.

During pre-season, Liverpool will face Real Betis, Arsenal and Manchester United on a US tour. More friendlies are likely to be announced ahead of the Premier League campaign kicking off on the weekend of August 17 and 18.

Liverpool.com says: When the emotional response to losing Klopp subsides a little, the excitement for Slot coming in will build at Liverpool. He is an interesting appointment and it will be fascinating to see which players benefit the most from him arriving.

Assuming Elliott is not picked for England duty, he will have a huge chance to impress from the off, and the same can be said for Jones. They will both hope to play more regularly next season and should become an even bigger part of the Liverpool midfield over the course of the next few years.