Slot focused on developing talent at Liverpool over transfers

Liverpool’s new head coach Arne Slot insists he is focused on developing the talent he has inherited at the club rather than transfer business.

The Dutchman is excited about the squad Jurgen Klopp left behind and believes there’s huge potential to help ensure they build on last season’s third-place finish.

Asked about possible incomings after a quiet start to the window at Liverpool, Slot said: “I don’t have specific numbers. It’s clear that we have inherited a good team. There were a few changes last year already.

“The way I look at football, I can see from the Euros how important it is to work on a daily basis for a longer time with a team.

“You see a lot of good players and not all of them have the same level (at the Euros) that they have at their clubs. That proves how important it is to work with players on a daily basis and get the best out of them.

“That’s something we’re going to do. The longer a team plays together, if there’s a good head coach, then normally you will see things improve. I’m fortunate going to a club where not many transfers go out of the club. It’s more difficult to have progress when you lose players.”

Slot added that he is comfortable with the title of head coach rather than manager and the input he will have on transfer activity.

“For me, it’s not a change as in Europe we work like this — at my former clubs it was like this always,” the 45-year-old explained at his packed unveiling at the AXA Training Centre. “There are not many clubs in the world where one person decides everything. It will be a collaboration between people.

“I don’t think many sporting directors bring in players that the head coach doesn’t like or the other way around.

“At a club like this, there are many more people than the two of us who can bring their opinion. That’s how I’ve worked in recent years and it’s how I like to work.

“The way I’m going to use my time in the coming weeks is to make the team in the best possible way for us to be ready for the first game. Starting to work with the players will give us a better insight into the improvements we have to make.”

Liverpool finished third in last season’s Premier League (Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)

New sporting director Richard Hughes indicated that transfers are more likely later in the window once Slot has had time to fully assess the squad.

“We need to improve on the training pitch, first and foremost. And with the window open we will always be opportunistic if we can,” he said, sitting alongside Slot.

“Speaking industry-wide, when there are major tournaments in the summer naturally the attention is there. After the flurry there was (at the end of June) I think it will calm down a bit now. That would be my prediction for the month of July.

“Then when August starts, when there’s been more time to work with players, then opinions will be more set at football clubs. Then you may see a situation in August where clubs are in a bit of a hurry to get things done. I see a quiet July, and then perhaps a crescendo in August.”

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Hughes refused to be drawn on the futures of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk, who have all entered the final year of their current deals. “It wouldn’t be fair for me to comment on contractual situations,” he said. “They are private matters between the club and the players.”

(Top photo: John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)