Feyenoord chief confirms Tottenham rejection as manager reaches ‘agreement’ to take over

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6 August 2024, 07:15 yayınlandı

Feyenoord manager Arne Slot has reportedly ‘agreed’ to join Tottenham Hotspur, who have been rejected by the Dutch club’s general manager.

The Premier League club are on the search for a new permanent boss having sacked Antonio Conte in March.

Conte’s assistant Cristian Stellini then took charge but only lasted four games with Daniel Levy turning to Ryan Mason until the end of the season.

Former Bayern Munich manager Julian Nagelsmann instantly emerged as Tottenham’s number-one target, but he has since withdrawn from the race.

This has left Slot as the clear frontrunner and Fabrizio Romano has said he is being ‘seriously considered’.

“Arne Slot is a serious candidate for the job,” Romano said on his YouTube channel.

“There are contacts internally to decide on the manager but the first step will be new director, then the new manager, with Arne Slot for sure into the race.

“Luis Enrique is also appreciated. [Ruben] Amorim and [Ange] Postecoglu have been discussed. But Arne Slot is the frontrunner.”

With the season coming to an end, rumours are fiercely circulating and Slot commented on his future over the weekend, hinting that he would be open to leaving Feyenoord, also confirming that he turned down a move to Leeds United earlier this year.

“Everyone needs clarity quickly,” he told ESPN. “I [rejected] Leeds in the winter and now I’m staying or leaving.

“My departure can also be good for the club, but if there is no dream club then I will stay.

“In football it is commonplace that you talk to clubs. I am not saying that I have done it now, but it is not forbidden that I talk to other clubs.”

Slot’s agent Rafaela Pimenta has spoken to the Premier League side and has ‘indicated’ that the Feyenoord boss ‘would like to move to north London this summer’.

The Dutch manager would receive a huge wage hike should he move to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. He currently earns £1.7million per year, the peasant.

Feyenoord would reportedly receive £6m in compensation should Slot join Spurs in the summer.

Unsurprisingly, the Dutch club are ‘desperate’ to keep hold of Slot, who led them to the Eredivisie title this term.

Spurs are also on the search for a new director of football and made an offer to bring in Feyenoord’s general manager Dennis te Kloese.

This has been confirmed by the man himself, who had no qualms about turning down their approach.

“I am not going to deny that an offer came in, but I will say straight away that it did not make me consider taking things up again with the family and moving,” he told ESPN.

“I joined Feyenoord to build something beautiful – and we are doing that together.

“We are off to a great start and want to achieve even more. It would be strange to stop at Feyenoord so soon.”

Te Kloese actually said that Spurs have not made an offer for Slot.

“No, there has been no request from Tottenham,” he said.

“In February, there was concrete interest from Leeds United, but we and Arne said, ‘no’ to that. Arne did not want to go to Leeds and I think that was a very good decision.

“We went a long way with Arne, broke [renegotiated] his contract last year. We are more than satisfied with him and if there is interest in him, we will hear about it. Sometimes it is also very nice to realise what you have.”

And Te Kloese is confident Slot will remain at Feyenoord even if Spurs make an offer.

“[Slot] still has a contract for two years. That has been said before and we have not been approached by any club.

“It is up to Arne to say something about that [his future]. But for us there is no ambiguity about it. We assume that he will remain the trainer of Feyenoord.

“He has a contract for two more years and this summer there is no release-clause in his contract, so we can say no if we want. And we have quite a good story here as well.

“Champions League next year, a lot of new players were signed last summer and they proved real good players in this team and their contracts also run for quite some years to come. So we have something here to look forward to.”