Football: Factbox-Soccer-New Liverpool manager Arne Slot

(Reuters) – Liverpool on Monday confirmed that Arne Slot will take over as their new manager to replace Juergen Klopp, Here is a look at the 45-year-old Dutchman’s career so far.

Early career:

* Born on Sept. 17, 1978 in Bergentheim, Netherlands.

* Began his youth career at his hometown club, amateur side VV Bergentheim, before moving to FC Zwolle (now PEC Zwolle).

* The midfielder spent his entire playing career in the Netherlands, starting and ending at Zwolle. He finished his first spell at the club in 2002 as their top scorer. They won promotion to the Eredivisie but Slot moved on.

* Left for NAC Breda, where he spent five seasons before joining Sparta Rotterdam.

* Returned to Zwolle in 2009 and in his last season, 2012-13, he finally got to play in the top flight with the club.

Early managerial career:

* After his retirement as a player, Slot remained at Zwolle as a youth coach before working as assistant manager to Henk de Jong at Cambuur and was later appointed interim boss there.

* Became assistant to John van den Brom at AZ Alkmaar and took over as manager for the 2019-20 season. His side were level on points with leaders Ajax Amsterdam when the season ended prematurely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

* No league title was awarded that season, and in December of the following campaign, Slot was sacked by AZ once they heard he was in talks with Feyenoord to replace Dick Advocaat at the end of the 2020-21 season.

Feyenoord manager:

* Under Advocaat, Feyenoord had finished fifth, 29 points off champions Ajax, and 12 behind AZ in third.

* In Slot’s first season, 2021-22, he took Feyenoord to third place, as well as reaching the first ever Europa Conference League final, losing to AS Roma.

* Last season Slot guided Feyenoord to their first league title since 2017, finishing seven points ahead of PSV Eindhoven.

* This term they were denied a repeat of their title win by an impressive PSV who lost once, while Feyenoord suffered defeat twice, the same as last season, but they did win the KNVB Cup with a 1-0 victory over NEC Nijmegen last month.

* Apart from his dynamic, attacking and possession-based football, Slot was also chosen by Liverpool for his ability to develop young players. He will start at Anfield on June 1.

(Reporting by Trevor Stynes; Editing by Ken Ferris)