Arne Slot hopeful video with Richard Hughes will prove he has Liverpool’s backing – UK Times

Arne Slot hopes Liverpool fans will believe he has the backing of sporting director Richard Hughes after seeing their close relationship on a video.

Slot has long insisted he had the support of Liverpool’s hierarchy, even in a run of nine defeats in 12 games, and that he and Hughes talk regularly and are in agreement.

But Hughes, who was key in appointing the Dutchman in 2024, has hardly spoken in public since his arrival from Bournemouth until Liverpool released an in-house interview with both men and CEO Billy Hogan this week.

And Slot said: “If it has helped for people to understand not only I say it but the situation because they caught that synergy or whatever, then it is a good thing. I can keep saying it but the moment you see it you probably believe it more. Then it is only a positive thing.”

Liverpool have only lost one of their last 16 matches in all competitions, but some speculation about Slot’s position has persisted.

Meanwhile, he praised Hughes, as Liverpool took their spending in the last year past £500m by agreeing a £55m deal for defender Jeremy Jacquet, who will join in the summer.

“I said many times, how good his work has been in the last one-and-a-half to two years,” Slot added. “This is shown in the signings he made and another time now with Jeremy Jacquet. He’s done a great job for the club but also for me.”

Slot gave an insight into the recruitment process and the long-term planning involved as he said he only plays a part when Hughes and others narrow a search down to three targets.

“It is a big club and a club that is run in a way that a lot of people put a lot of work into it,” Slot said. “We do not think, ‘let’s sign a player tomorrow and we will start with it today’. The work that goes into that is so detailed in this club that there is a long, long period to go.

“I don’t watch a football match and say, ‘Oh, he’s a good player, why don’t we try to sign him?’ That’s not the way we work over here. There is a lot of data and scouting involved and then a list is brought down to one, two or three players and then that is the moment that I get also involved. If we do a signing, that is never one week’s work, let’s put it that way.”