Never mind Trent Alexander-Arnold, forget about the tens of names chugged out by the transfer rumour mill every single day – there is one piece of business they must do that trumps all.
Arne Slot. Tie him down to a new, multi-year contract.
To put it simply, he is now the most important man in the building. Alexander-Arnold may be today’s news but will be tomorrow’s chip paper. Adios, he is gone and Liverpool now must move on.
But one thing they will have learned from that saga, through no fault of the new regime’s making really, is that they cannot let the contracts of key figures run down and allow seeds of doubt over their futures to grow.
Slot signed a three-year deal last year after convincing the hierarchy in talks led by Richard Hughes that he was the man to lead them into a brave new era following the legendary Jurgen Klopp.
The Dutchman had been on their radar for a while before official contact was made, with Julian Ward – who first met Slot as loans manager, then later became sporting director and is now technical director at Fenway Sports Group – visited Feyenoord in Rotterdam for a few days.
Officially, Ward was there to check out how certain European clubs worked, but it was clear that he was sniffing around how Slot worked and secretly gaining first-hand references as part of the club’s due diligence.
Hughes then flew out to meet Slot at his home in Zwolle and sold a vision to him. You need not be a genius to work out what Hughes and Co think of Slot now: he has blown everyone at the club away with how meticulous he is.
There have been whispers for some weeks now from the Netherlands that both parties are keen to offer Slot a new deal and that would be no surprise. He deserves to be backed to the hilt – just like Klopp was a few months into his reign.
To rip up a contract and make a new, improved arrangement is something FSG have previous with. The first was with Mohamed Salah who, after scoring more than 40 goals in his first campaign at Anfield, had his £90,000 per week contract ripped up, doubled and lengthened, as Real Madrid and others sniffed around.
But the biggest was with Klopp. When he arrived in October 2015, he was handed a three-and-a-half year deal. He was a force of nature when he arrived in the building, burning with intensity and an ambition to transform the club, but results weren’t great early on.
Liverpool were beaten by Watford, a poor Newcastle and West Ham in his first couple of months. They had to scramble a draw at home to West Brom and were beaten by Crystal Palace, when Klopp saw fans heading early to the exits.
But FSG knew he was the man. By the middle of January 2016, Mike Gordon was already in negotiations over new terms. Soon enough, Klopp had agreed a six-year deal.
If Slot is allowed to get to this time next year without a new deal, say, what is to stop the elite clubs on the continent making a play to get him to move on? Yes, his family are still in Holland but his feet are now under the table at Liverpool and he is falling in love with the club.
Darmanin’s limp apology does not wash
The problem with the apology is that it doesn’t have the same impact as the allegation. You may have missed, then, the fact that Gerald Darmanin, France’s former Interior Minister, broke cover a couple of days ago.
‘It was a failure because I had not foreseen,’ he simpered. ‘That was a mistake on my part. I was led astray by my preconceptions. The scapegoat was easy to find and I apologise now to Liverpool supporters. They were quite right to be hurt. It was a mistake and a failure.’
Too right it was. It has taken Darmanin three years to say sorry for things he said in the aftermath of the 2022 Champions League final but his words are meaningless. His prejudice helped create one of the most unhelpful and damaging narratives in recent memory with regards to football.
Darmanin, along with terrified faceless men in suits at Uefa, pedalled the insinuation that Liverpool supporters were to blame for what happened at the Stade de France – when they were corralled into confined spaces, let down by an inadequate ticket system, gassed by police then attacked by locals.
Those who were on the ground that night knew exactly what happened – you never forget what it’s like to choke on pepper spray and the splitting headache it leaves you with – and, fortunately, there were enough social media platforms to get the true stories out while the fiasco was occurring.
Still, there was a landslide of opprobrium aimed at Liverpool’s followers that it had all been down to them. When someone in Darmanin’s position speaks and adds fuel to the fire, it only emboldens those with preconceptions to think they were right.
It was only down to the fact that Liverpool’s fans were so tolerant and restrained that no lives were lost. Darmanin hadn’t visited the Stade de France, he never spoke to anyone who had been through the trauma but, still, he felt compelled to go on the attack.
In February 2023, an independent report found UEFA bore responsibility for an event that almost turned into a catastrophe. Darmanin has eyes. He could have read that and apologised back then. Doing it now, on a YouTube channel, simply doesn’t wash.
Big Mama primed for move
There is a lot of talk about the ‘big summer’ that awaits at Liverpool but it is easy to forget they have already made one signing for next season.
Goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili will join the club from Valencia in a deal that is worth a relatively cheap £25million plus a potential £4m in add-ons. And Confidential understands that the Georgia No 1 will count as a signing for this summer in terms of finances.
There are no worries in terms of profit and sustainability rules but the fee will be part of this summer’s finances when doing the calculations.
The Valencia shot-stopper, 24, was bought as part of a forward-planning measure put in place last summer and after an eye-catching Euro 2024 for Georgia, Liverpool believe they got a decent deal. They believed he would not be available for such a price in the future.
Mamardashvili was not officially on loan at Valencia, who are 12th in La Liga having lost just one of their last 12 games, but there was an agreement in place for him to sign this summer.
Alisson has a year left on his deal plus the option to automatically trigger a year’s extension – taking his stay to at least 2027. Caoimhin Kelleher and Vitek Jaros remain at the club but the former has vocalised his desire to be a No 1 elsewhere.
Real not made official bid yet
Confidential readers were first to know of Real Madrid’s desire to sign Trent Alexander-Arnold in time for June’s Club World Cup, with the intention to make this cheeky move revealed in this column on March 26.
Sources in Spain are now saying the 15-time champions of Europe are preparing a move of around £800,000 to get him out of his contract early – but it is understood no official bid has been lodged at the time of writing.
Real first take on Al Hilal on June 18 at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium. There is a small window from June 1 to June 10 for clubs to make additions to their squad or extend the deals of existing players. This would require Liverpool to play ball and release Alexander-Arnold early.
Chapeau to the media team
Arne Slot might be employee of the month at the AXA Training Centre for steering Liverpool over the line in the Premier League title race – but the media team deserve a shoutout, too.
Not only the fabulously choreographed announcements for the Virgil van Dijk and Salah contracts but the way they celebrated the Premier League title win.
Data shows they racked up 72million social media engagements on Sunday and Monday after winning the league, making it the most engaged title win ever by a Premier League club across all major competitions.
The matchday alone saw 58million engagements and they gained half a million new followers. Small fry for an institution of this size, perhaps, but they will have banked a decent sum of money from that as sites like X pay money to creators.
Who should be the new vice-captain?
A new vice-captain is needed two years with Alexander-Arnold on his way out. Let’s have a look at the candidates and a verdict on how likely they are…
Mohamed Salah: seems the obvious pick. Loves the club, is idolised by most in the dressing room, has good relations with everyone. But do the club want to think longer-term and train up a future captain?
Alisson: a commanding figure. Contrary to popular opinion I like the idea of a goalkeeper wearing the armband. But same as above on the cons…
Andy Robertson: from what I witness he is a natural-born leader. The class clown who is always cracking jokes but also has his serious side and drives standards. He would be my pick but, again, he will not be around for ever.
Curtis Jones: the local lad and boyhood Liverpool fan. If all goes to plan, he will be here for another decade and is only 24. Maybe not vice-captain but deserves a shout at being in the new leadership group.
Alexis Mac Allister: I have seen a few shouts for him on social media. A likeable chap who seems humble and well-liked. But maybe he’s too nice… you want someone who would be in the referee’s ear and shouting at team-mates!
Reds scout Egypt
Liverpool have a scouting presence at the ongoing Under 20s Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Egypt.
Youth recruitment is high on the agenda for the new regime with several hires made in recent months. So far in 2025 they have hired a global talent scout, a regional scout for the Netherlands and Belgium and two further European regional scouts.
They have made several hires in terms of loan management – a loan pathway lead and loan performance analyst.
This weekend they watched RB Leipzig and have also kept an eye on clubs all round the world from Real Betis to River Plate to name just two.
The Under 20 Africa Cup of Nations has been the breakout stage for a number of stars, including the likes of Leicester duo Patson Daka (Zambia) and Abdul Fatawu (Ghana), Andre Ayew (Ghana) and Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast). An 18-year-old Salah finished third with Egypt in 2011.
