Erling Haaland's super agent heavily involved in Liverpool deal with Arne Slot

Jürgen Klopp’s successor at Liverpool has been confirmed. Arne Slot will take over from the German this summer, with the Reds having reached an agreement with Feyenoord for his services.

Slot will officially start his role as Liverpool’s head coach on June 1. His appointment was confirmed by the club on Monday, less than 24 hours after Klopp’s final game in charge.

The Dutchman will arrive on Merseyside following a successful spell in charge of Feyenoord. He led the club to its first Eredivisie title since 2017 last season, before adding the KNVB Cup this year.

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Understandably then, Feyenoord was eager to keep hold of the 45-year-old, despite Liverpool’s best efforts. A report from The Athletic has detailed the talks that took place between the two clubs after Slot was identified as the Reds’ first choice.

After Tottenham had targeted him last summer, Slot was convinced to sign a new deal that would keep him at Feyenoord until 2026. Unlike his old contract, this one didn’t include a release clause, meaning Liverpool would have to negotiate a fee in order to secure his services.

An opening offer of $9.8m (£7.7m/€9m) was rejected by Feyenoord, although Slot was determined to secure a move to Anfield. Before a game against Go Ahead Eagles, he confirmed his desire to take over at Liverpool, and claimed he was ‘confident’ the two sides would reach an agreement.

Talks continued between the two clubs and, at the end of April, an improved offer from new sporting director Richard Hughes broke Feyenoord’s resolve, and a verbal agreement was secured.

Central to the deal was Slot’s representative Rafaela Pimenta. The Brazilian agent previously worked under Mino Raiola until his death in 2022, when she inherited all of his clients, including Manchester City star Erling Haaland.

Pimenta is said to have worked through the finer details on personal terms, with Slot agreeing to a three-year deal. According to the ECHO, Liverpool has paid around $12.7m (£10m/€11.7m) in compensation to Feyenoord.

Liverpool.com says: It says a lot about Liverpool’s pull that after seemingly deciding against Tottenham last summer, Slot essentially forced Feyenoord’s hand this time around to secure a move to Anfield. It’s very encouraging as well to see how much he wanted the job, considering how tough a task it will be to follow Klopp.

It won’t be long until he’s taking charge of his first training session on Merseyside. Hopefully he gets plenty of backing this summer in order to take Liverpool forward again, and build on the success of Klopp.