Arne Slot reportedly annoyed several Liverpool players with jibes about their previous success in the Bundesliga before moving to the Premier League.
Slot was sacked as Liverpool boss last week, despite the club having initially appeared to be prepared to give him more time in charge despite a difficult second season at Anfield.
The Reds lost 20 matches in all competitions and could only finish fifth in the Premier League in a disappointing follow-up to the title won in Slot’s debut season in England.
According to Bild, Slot had got off on the wrong foot with several signings as the German newspaper claimed his objective criticism had become ‘mixed with arrogance and personal barbs.’
The report stated that Slot had asked signings ‘Did you win the Premier League?’, while joking ‘You can play like that in Germany’ to new additions from the Bundesliga.
Liverpool had made three major signings from the Bundesliga as part of a £450m summer spending spree, with Florian Wirtz notably joining from Bayer Leverkusen in a £116m deal.
Arne Slot reportedly annoyed several Liverpool signings with ‘personal barbs’, with a report claiming the Dutchman asked new arrivals ‘Did you win the Premier League?’
Slot was said to have joked ‘You can play like that in Germany’ to signings from the Bundesliga, with Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike among big money arrivals from the German top flight
Hugo Ekitike and Jeremie Frimpong also signed from Eintracht Frankfurt and Leverkusen respectively, costing £79m and £29.5m.
Wirtz and Frimpong had both played crucial roles as Leverkusen won the Bundesliga for the first time in the club’s history in 2024.
Their fellow Liverpool team-mates Alexander Isak, Ibrahima Konate, Dominik Szoboszlai, Ryan Gravenberch and Wataru Endo were among those to have previously played for teams in the German top flight.
Despite the claims, Slot had been vocal in his defence of his players throughout the season, highlighted by the Dutchman defending Wirtz’s contributions at the end of his difficult first campaign at the club.
‘The development Florian has made in his Liverpool career is so clear and obvious,’ Slot said last month.
‘In the 93rd minute against Crystal Palace, making a duel on the sideline, winning a throw-in, and then making a sprint from 40 yards and hitting the ball in the top corner – that is something I’m not completely convinced he could do eight months ago.
‘His improvement – and he was already an elite player – will only continue. He is only 22, so that makes complete sense. Almost every player in the world is at his best when he is 25 or 26, but he is already an elite player and he can only become better.
‘That is the beauty of the signings we made last summer. All of them are of a certain age where we can only expect them to get better.’
Andoni Iraola was appointed as Liverpool head coach on Thursday following Arne Slot’s sacking
Slot’s successor was confirmed on Thursday, with Liverpool appointing former Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola on a two-year deal.
‘I am really excited, really excited,’ the Spaniard said. ‘Because obviously you know about Liverpool, you know that it’s a big club, a massive club, one of the biggest in the world.
‘But feeling inside and understanding a little bit more of this club, I always thought it’s a special club.
‘You don’t need a lot of things to get attracted by Liverpool. Liverpool is Liverpool.
‘But obviously the atmosphere, the supporters, the club, the players, the chance for me to coach top-level players, the chance to fight for titles. I think it cannot be more attractive than this. It’s difficult to find it. So, really excited to start.’
