Arne Slot – new head coach of Liverpool Football Club – you have been warned.
The Premier League provides it’s fair share of cautionary tales, and Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp replacement does not need to look too far down the road for a warning he would do well to heed.
Erik ten Hag, hired by Manchester United after winning the Eredivisie title at Ajax, is facing up to the sack by the Premier League giants, a series of high-profile acquisitions coming back to bite the under-pressure Dutchman.
In fact, if you look back throughout the modern era, for every Lisandro Martinez there are a handful of Antony’s. For every Luis Suarez, numerous Afonso Alves’.
HITC reported a few weeks ago that Liverpool could look to reunite Arne Slot with a couple of his Eredivisie-winning Feyenoord favourites. There is interest in the midfield duo Quinten Timber and Mats Wieffer.
The agent of left-sided centre-back David Hancko – a self-professed Liverpool ‘fan’ – also confirmed that The Reds were on the Slovakian’s trail even before it became apparent that Klopp’s previously boundless energy reserves had finally run out.
But for Roy Makaay, the former Netherlands striker, Liverpool should be wary of rebuilding their squad upon a foundation of Dutch league signings.
Arne Slot’s Liverpool warned against Feyenoord raid
“I wouldn’t sign too many players from the Eredivisie,” Makaay, one of the division’s more successful exports having proven prolific at Deportivo la Coruna and Bayern Munich, tells Voetbal Primeur.
“Unfortunately, it has become apparent in recent seasons that the step from the Netherlands to the Premier League is extremely large.
“If you look at Davy Klassen (at Everton), Donny van de Beek… Even at Manchester United, all players are having an extremely difficult time.
“It is always dangerous if you take too many compatriots with you, in my opinion.”
Hancko and Wieffer, according to reports, could cost a combined £47 million. Timber would not come cheap either. Hancko is maybe the most likely of the three to end up at Anfield, given that Liverpool have spent the best part of 12 months looking to bring in a new left-footed central defender.
The EFL Cup winners showed an interest in Micky van de Ven before he joined Tottenham Hotspur, and also made an approach for Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen stopper Piero Hincapie.
“(Hancko) can easily go to England with Arne Slot,” former Netherlands international Peter Boeve tells De Telegraaf.
“(He stands out) not only for his defending,” adds Feyenoord legend Rinus Israel. “Hancko has a good play-in pass, often dares to go forward and can head (the ball) excellently.
“He is the complete defender.”
Slot won the Eredivisie title with Feyenoord
Hancko was outstanding under Slot as Feyenoord ended their six-year wait for domestic glory in 2023. Former Dutch international Robin van Persie, meanwhile, believes the charismatic 45-year-old has both the personality and the tactical vision to thrive one of England’s biggest clubs.
“I think (Slot is) very good, very good,” Van Persie, the legendary Arsenal and Manchester United striker, tells ESPN. “How he wants to play is in line with Klopp’s style of play and what they are used to there. I expect them to do very well.
“Liverpool is one of the nicer clubs in England. I have been able to play for two other very nice clubs.
“Slot has already been able to practice well at Feyenoord in that rhythm. But there (in the Premier League) it moves very hard and fast for eleven to 11-and-a-half months a year. It is a very nice, new opportunity for him.
“I believe it will go very well.”
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