Arne Slot seems to confirm Liverpool future

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Image Credits: Imago ImagesThe background noise around Arne Slot’s long-term future at Liverpool has been impossible to ignore throughout a deeply turbulent 2025-26 season.A title defence that fell apart, a Champions League exit, an injury crisis of historic proportions, and a fanbase growing increasingly restless, all of it has kept the question alive: will the Dutchman still be at Anfield come August?Sky Sports recently reported that doubts over Slot are “subsiding rapidly” as Liverpool near their “bare minimum” objective of qualifying for the Champions League via their Premier League placing, with the club said to be set to retain his support heading into the summer.Slot’s current contract expires on June 30, 2027 as he signed a three-year deal upon arrival from Feyenoord in 2024 and is now 22 months into it.Despite growing frustration with his work in 2025 and into 2026, having won 36 of his first 50 games but only 26 of his second 50, taking out the head coach is reportedly “not on the agenda at all” for FSG.The backdrop makes what emerged from his pre-match press conference on Friday all the more significant.Reports from the Netherlands have emerged claiming that Etienne Reijnen, Feyenoord’s current assistant coach and Slot’s trusted ally from his time in Rotterdam, “may be on the verge” of a move to Liverpool, and the timing could hardly be more telling.Reijnen was initially set to move to Anfield at the very start of Slot’s reign but a reunion was stymied by work permit issues, seeing him stay at Feyenoord under Robin van Persie.Now that Reijnen is close to completing his full coaching diploma, fresh interest has emerged, and Dutch journalist Valentijn Driessen has confirmed that Slot wants to bring him in “as soon as” that qualification is secured.Reijnen, 39, is a former centre-back who played alongside Slot at PEC Zwolle before joining his staff in Rotterdam in late 2023.He is highly regarded for his tactical analysis and, crucially, his set-piece work, both attacking and defending.Under his watch at Feyenoord this season, the Rotterdam side have scored 11 goals from set-pieces and conceded only four.Liverpool, conversely, have scored 15 but conceded 16 across 2025-26, a defensive set-piece record that directly contributed to the sacking of Aaron Briggs, Liverpool’s previous set-piece coach.That context is exactly what made Slot’s words on Friday so loaded.Addressing the backroom situation directly, the Liverpool head coach made clear that the club is actively looking to reinforce behind the scenes, “I think we all know we lost a staff member, we parted ways [with Aaron Briggs], so it makes sense we are looking.”“We look at players and staff to improve the club, we keep our eyes open.”“It could be a player but also a staff member.”“We look at where we can strengthen.”Pressed on whether he could name a specific target, Slot kept his cards close but acknowledged the search was real and ongoing, “I think it would be a surprise to you, if I never talk about players we bring in, that I would start talking to you about names in terms of coaches we could bring in.”“Of course we are looking at the situation, what is best for us now, but as long as I have no news about that, I cannot share anything about it.”A manager planning his backroom staff for next season is, in effect, a manager confirming he expects to be around for it.FSG are expected to keep faith in Slot, and the potential arrival of Reijnen would represent a long-awaited reunion that Slot has made little secret of wanting, having said publicly as recently as late 2024, “Etienne Reijnen is still at Feyenoord… the set-pieces are a strength there and Reijnen still takes care of them.”The subtext was clear even then.With Champions League qualification appearing reasonably secure with four games to play, all signs now point to Slot beginning 2026-27 at the helm, and if Reijnen finally makes it to Merseyside after two years of near-misses, Liverpool’s set-piece frailties may finally have a dedicated solution too.