Virgil van Dijk explains why he thinks Arne Slot can succeed at Liverpool as Feyenoord boss emerges as likely candidate to replace Jurgen Klopp

Slot has emerged as the new favourite to replace Klopp at the end of the season, with talks over an Anfield move already underway. Despite ex-Reds defender Jamie Carragher voicing his doubts over whether the 45-year-old can make the step up from the Eredivisie to the Premier League, captain Van Dijk appears to have backed his fellow countryman.

He told ViaPlay: “I think Slot is one of the better Dutch coaches at the moment. With the way he plays and the philosophy he has, he can be a Liverpool coach. But I read and hear that it is far from complete. We shall see. We will focus on that next season, but that is still a long way off.”

Replacing Klopp - who has won the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, and Carabao Cup during his Anfield tenure - will be a mighty task and after failing to lure Xabi Alonso away from Bayer Leverkusen, Liverpool have turned their attention to Slot. The Dutchman, who is now the top target after Sporting CP's Ruben Amorim seemingly ruled himself out of contention, has won the Eredivisie and the KNVB Beker since taking over at Feyenoord in 2021.

While talks between Feyenoord and Liverpool over Slot will continue behind the scenes, Van Dijk's side will try to bounce back from their 2-0 loss to Everton on Wednesday when they travel to West Ham in Saturday's early kick-off.