Premier League quartet Tottenham Hotspur, Leeds United, West HAm and Crystal Palace could go head-to-head for Arne Slot with the Feyenoord boss playing the best football seen in the Eredivisie ‘for the last 30 years’.
That is the opinion of Marcel Van der Kaan, the Dutch football expert speaking to talkSPORT (13 April, 11am) as interest rises in a man who looks set to become only the second Feyenoord boss since the turn of the century to claim the Eredivisie title.
Slot’s Rotterdam giants are six points clear of perennial champions Ajax. Not only can they boast the best defensive record in the league, Feyenoord have also scored 67 times themselves. Five of those coming during Sunday’s obliteration of RKC Waalwijk.
Arne Slot could be heading to the Premier League
“A number of clubs in England have been following him for quite a while,” Van der Kaan explains, Tottenham, Leeds, West Ham, and Crystal Palace among the 44-year-old’s admirers, say The Times.
“Crystal Palace are, I think, a serious option for him. And Tottenham Hotspur, who he would also love to coach one day, if not this summer. If they do want to get him, they will have to come up with a massive amount of money.”
Slot, per The Independent, has a £5.7 million release clause in his contract. Leeds were reportedly willing to hand the Dutchman a £35,000-a-week deal at Elland Road before offering Javi Gracia the role on a short-term basis.
Slot, who transformed AZ Alkmaar into Eredivisie challengers before the COVID pandemic in 2020 and led Feyenoord to the UEFA Conference League final last season, is renowned for his free-flowing easy-on-the-eye approach to attacking football.
Take their fourth goal against RKC last time out, for instance. Feyenoord shifted the ball from the edge of their own box to the opposition penalty area via four first-time passes, a sumptuous move finished off by a left-footed shot from their rampaging right-back following a backheeled assist.
Slot-ball to a tee.
‘Similar to Guardiola’
“The way his team plays, the attacking style, is even more impressive than just getting to that Conference League final,” adds Van der Kaan, who rates Slot higher even than Erik ten Hag when it comes to pure aesthetics, insisting that his style is ‘very similar to Pep Guardiola’.
“I know for a fact he has had talks with Premier League clubs over the past few months. The top technical directors and boards are really doing their homework (on Slot).
“He is, in my opinion, the most attractive-playing football manager I have seen for the last 30 years in the Dutch leagues.”
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
