Tottenham weighing up approach for Feyenoord manager Arne Slot
Tottenham are considering whether to make an approach to Feyenoord for Arne Slot, with the manager poised for talks with the Dutch club over his future.
Spurs are interested in Slot, who has transformed Feyenoord since his move there in the summer of 2021, winning the Eredivisie title this season, the club’s first such success in six years.
Slot’s agent, Rafaela Pimenta, is scheduled to meet the Feyenoord general manager, Dennis te Kloese, on Wednesday and Spurs’s interest will be at the top of the agenda.
The situation is complicated on all sides, with Spurs needing a new sporting director after the resignation of Fabio Paratici on 21 April and, ideally, wanting to get one in place before they move for their next manager.
Slot’s Feyenoord contract, meanwhile, has no release clause this summer, meaning his club could play hardball if Spurs were to make a move.
Feyenoord would do this because they do not want to lose him. For Spurs, it could be expensive. Slot’s deal runs until 2025.
In a further twist, Te Kloese is on record in the Netherlands as saying that he has turned down an approach from Spurs over the sporting director position. “I said ‘no’ and I also don’t have any interest,” he said. “We have made really good steps and then to say: ‘Let’s hear what I can do for other clubs’ is not an option for me.”
It is unclear whether Spurs made an official offer for him but could Te Kloese’s declaration be a message to Slot? Te Kloese has also said that because Slot has no release clause this summer, Feyenoord “can say no if we want” to interested clubs.
Leeds tried to take Slot in February after they sacked Jesse Marsch but they could not get him.
Slot plays a 4-3-3 system and his style is marked by hard running and an aggressive press. He reached the Europa Conference League final in his first season at Feyenoord, losing to José
Mourinho’s Roma, after the club had sold their star player, Steven Berghuis, to Ajax in pre-season.
This time out, few people expected Feyenoord to challenge for the title but they wrapped it up on the Sunday before last – with two games to play – sparking wild celebrations in Rotterdam.