Liverpool could well be looking to Arsenal for inspiration as they pick their next manager.
The Reds’ search to find the right man to replace Jurgen Klopp over the summer appears to be hurtling towards its conclusion.
However, despite claims that Ruben Amorim is the favourite to take the Anfield hotseat, it still appears to be something of an open race.
Only today, journalist David Ornstein claimed that Liverpool are still keeping an open mind in regards to Klopp’s successor. Ornstein even suggested that the Reds may be prepared to be ‘brave’ and hire a surprise name.
And in that spirit, we think Liverpool can take a note out of Arsenal’s book and hire a manager who could very well emulate Gunners’ manager Mikel Arteta.
Liverpool should look to Nuri Sahin
Of course, the perfect ‘Arteta route’ for Liverpool would have been to go and get Xabi Alonso. Arteta and Alonso are actually childhood friends and former neighbours during their respective careers on Merseyside.
Anything Arteta could do during his playing career, Alonso bettered it. Early indications suggest that not much will change in management, with Xabi already securing a league title in his first full campaign as a manager.
But the Spaniard unfortunately had over ideas, leaving Liverpool to assess the rest of their options. Amorim is perhaps the stand-out of those possibilities having already won titles in his short career on the touchline so far.
However, if Liverpool are looking to be ‘brave’ and go for some outside of the box thinking, we’d put forward another former midfielder as a possible candidate – Borussia Dortmund assistant manager Nuri Sahin.
Like Alonso and Arteta, Sahin is a former midfielder – and a silky one at that. His playing career took him to Dortmund, Liverpool and Real Madrid where he learnt under some great managers, including Klopp himself.
An intelligent and obviously studious midfielder, it was apparent that Sahin might make a good manager. At just 35, the former Turkey international has already made that step, taking over at Super Lig side Antalyaspor in 2021. Having done reasonably there, Sahin moved back to Germany and to Dortmund in January this year.
What is Nuri Sahin doing now
As an assistant manager at a top club, Sahin’s work now mirrors that done by Arteta before he joined Arsenal. The 42-year-old was Pep Guardiola’s assistant at Manchester City for three years before moving to the Emirates Stadium.
Having already been a head coach, Sahin is more experienced than Arteta was when taking the Arsenal job in 2019. Sahin is working under Edin Terzic not Guardiola and it would obviously be an enormous gamble for Liverpool. But it has paid off well enough for the Gunners.
Amorim should be ahead of the one-time Reds midfielder in the reckoning. But there is also the feeling that this is a brand new era at Anfield. Why not start completely from scratch and try something a bit off the wall.
He may have only played 12 times for Liverpool after joining in 2012, but Sahin has always spoken well of the Reds. With a direct link to Klopp and a feeling of unfinished business, who’s to say he couldn’t make it work.