Tottenham Hotspur legend Rafael van der Vaart has admitted that the Premier League outfit have been in touch with him in order to canvas opinion about Feyenoord’s Eredivisie winning manager Arne Slot.
The London giants, Van der Vaart adds, ‘really want’ the 44-year-old Dutchman as Antonio Conte’s full-time replacement.
And Arne Slot, since emerging as one of Tottenham’s leading candidates a couple of months ago, has only enhanced his growing reputation over in the Netherlands. The former AZ Alkmaar coach – dubbed the ‘best coach in the world’ by one Feyenoord player – guided the Rotterdam outfit to their first Eredivisie title in six years, with the gap between themselves and PSV Eindhoven at the top of the table now standing at ten points.
Tottenham’s very own Guardiola or Ten Hag?
Feyenoord have not only succeeded under Slot, meanwhile, but succeeded in style.
Likened to Pep Guardiola and Erik ten Hag; his possession-heavy, free-flowing style would be very well received by a Spurs fanbase pining for Mauricio Pochettino heyday after three years of energy-sapping pragmatism under Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho.
“I do know that Tottenham really want him,” Van der Vaart tells Voetbal Primeur. “They asked (me) what I thought of him.
“Well, you know what I think of him. He has squeezed out the maximum (out of his players). Feyenoord is so stable.”
Arne Slot keen on Tottenham job
Slot, according to talkSPORT, is open to the idea of taking over at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Even if he did admit late last week that it would take something ‘beautiful’ for him to consider leaving a Feyenoord side who – unlike his potential future employers- will be playing Champions League football in 2023/24.
If Slot follows fellow Dutchman Ten Hag to England, he will be under pressure to breath fresh life into a club asphyxiated by years of mismanagement from above. All the while rebuilding a squad which has been allowed to grow more stale than a year-old loaf of Hovis.
“It’s a club I spent two years with,” adds Van der Vaart. “And I have a good relationship with them. They just lack a good coach.
“A coach who plays the fun football that Tottenham has always stood for.”
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