Arne Slot warned over crucial Liverpool mistake that Ten Hag tried and Real Madrid made

Arne Slot has been told he must avoid creating cliques at Liverpool by signing one specific type of player, something Erik ten Hag almost fell foul of at Manchester United and Real Madrid have been guilty of in the past.

Slot has boldly decided to take charge of Liverpool this summer when Anfield hero Jurgen Klopp leaves at the end of the season. Liverpool have agreed to pay Feyenoord a compensation package worth a total €11million (£9m) to release Slot from his contract, which had been due to run until June 2026.

Liverpool have since been linked with a number of Feyenoord’s best players, including David Hancko, Santiago Gimenez, Quinten Timber and Lutsharel Geertruida.

However, former Netherlands ace Wesley Sneijder has urged Slot not to sign too many Dutch players, which caused issues during his time at Real Madrid.

It is also something Ten Hag tried at Man Utd, having taken Tyrell Malacia to Old Trafford and also tried to sign other Dutch stars including Cody Gakpo, Frenkie de Jong, Brian Brobbey and Denzel Dumfries.

“I would be careful with that, with getting too many Dutchmen,” Sneijder said in an interview with Voetbal Nieuws.

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“I experienced that at Madrid. When I came, only Ruud van Nistelrooy, Royston Drenthe and Arjen Robben were there. And the following year Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Rafael van der Vaart joined them.

“If the four of us play football somewhere, we’re not going to talk Spanish to each other, you keep talking in your mother tongue anyway. You shouldn’t start attracting too many Dutch people to you.”

Liverpool eye defensive and attacking recruits

Timber and Geertruida are both Dutch, so Slot may be told by Liverpool chiefs Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes that other targets must be identified.

Edwards will already have an extensive list of players on his radar, with a few areas of the Liverpool squad in need of bolstering.

Fabrizio Romano has revealed that Slot wants Liverpool to sort out central defence as a top priority. This will likely involve offering Virgil van Dijk a contract extension and signing at least one new defender.

On Wednesday, it emerged that Liverpool are ‘very interested’ in Eintracht Frankfurt centre-half Willian Pacho, who is valued at £50-60m.

It is a huge boost for Slot that Mo Salah now looks to be staying this summer, though the Reds could still do with landing a new striker who can lessen the weight on Darwin Nunez’s shoulders.

Liverpool have also been linked with a host of central midfielders, including Atalanta star Teun Koopmeiners.

READ MORE – Next Liverpool manager: Five players Arne Slot could target from Feyenoord

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