Liverpool fired manager Arne Slot after a hugely difficult second season in charge.
Slot, who won the Premier League last season after replacing Jurgen Klopp, saw his side slump to a fifth-place finish this year and lose 19 games in all competitions.
Liverpool also finished with just 60 points in the league for the club’s worst tally since 2015-16 and lost in the last 16 of the Champions League.
High-priced summer transfers like Jeremie Frimpong and Alexander Isak (before his fibula fracture) also struggled to settle at the club, while Liverpool icon Mo Salah recently criticized the team’s style of play under the Dutchman Slot.
As such, Liverpool’s owners have decided to part ways with Slot a year after he won the Premier League during his first season in charge,
“That this was a difficult decision for us to make as a club goes without saying. The contribution Arne has made to Liverpool FC in the time that he has been with us has been significant, meaningful and – most importantly of all to supporters and ourselves – successful,” the owners said in a joint statement.
The statement later continued: “At the same time, we have collectively come to the conclusion that change is necessary in order for the club to keep moving forward. Again, it must be stressed that this is not a decision which has been reached lightly, anything but.”
Liverpool’s replacement for Slot already seems clear, as Fabrizio Romano reported that the club will hire out-of-contract Bournemouth coach (and former New York City FC player) Andoni Iraola.
Iraola led the Cherries to a sixth-place finish this year (just three points behind Liverpool) and the club’s first ever qualification for the Europa League.
Slot, meanwhile, has already been linked to the vacant AC Milan job.
