Liverpool are about to embark on a new era under Arne Slot and they will do so with a significantly lower wage bill courtesy of the departure of some of their higher earners
Liverpool have begun the reign of Arne Slot by slashing the wage bill by £300,000 per week.
Jurgen Klopp is not the only person to be departing Anfield this summer. Before the German gave his farewell speeches, the Merseysiders also said goodbye to long-serving central defender Joel Matip and Spanish midfield maestro Thiago Alcantara.
The Liverpool duo will depart the club as free agents when their contracts expire on July 1. When they both exit Anfield, they will take their respective salaries of £100,000 and £200,000 a week with them.
It’s understood their departures will save the club an extra £300,000 per week heading into Slot’s first season.
Thiago was the third-highest earner at Anfield, despite only making one Premier League appearance this season. The ex-Bayern Munich and Barcelona star’s yearly salary was £10.4m with only Virgil van Dijk (£11.4m) and Mohamed Salah (£18.2m) out-earning him at the club.
With Thiago now leaving the club, Trent Alexander-Arnold has become the third-highest earner at Anfield with a salary believed to be around £9.36m per year. Slot was officially confirmed by Liverpool on April 20, one day after Klopp’s final match at Anfield.
Slot offered his former side a fond farewell after three productive seasons which has seen the club win the Eredivisie title and the Dutch Cup, while also reaching the 2022 Europa Conference League final.
In a message to his former fan base on Feyenoord’s club website, Slot said: “It is certainly not an easy decision to close the door behind you at a club where you have experienced so many wonderful moments and worked successfully with so many wonderful people.
“But as a sportsman, an opportunity to become a head coach in the Premier League, at one of the biggest clubs in the world, is difficult to ignore. I have thoroughly enjoyed my three years at Feyenoord and have felt very much at home from day one, both within the club and with the supporters.
“When I started in Rotterdam in the summer of 2021, I was convinced that it was possible to achieve success at this wonderful club. The fact that we have reached a European final in three years and won several prizes makes me more than proud.”
The new Liverpool home shirt for the 2024/2025 season features a Chrome Yellow pattern design sees a modernised take on the legendary 84 Home Shirt, a season which saw the Reds become European Champions for the 4th time in Rome and the first English Club to win a Treble of major honours. You can pre-order it now for Thursday, May 16.
Klopp urged Liverpool fans to get behind Slot in the same way they got behind him when he replaced Brendan Rodgers in October 2015. The ex-Borussia Dortmund manager said: “You welcome the new manager like you welcomed me
“You go all-in from the first day. And you keep believing and you push the team. Change is good. No one tells you to stop believing.
“This club may be in the best position ever. We decide if we are worried or excited. We decide if we believe. We decide if we trust or don’t trust and since today I am one of you and I keep believing in you.”
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