If Jürgen Klopp’s dire warning that Champions League football is not yet safe was meant to galvanize his Liverpool squad into a response against West Ham, he was left underwhelmed. The Reds could only salvage a draw, absolutely confirming that the title dream is over.
But a day later, any vague concerns about returning to Europe’s top table were all but dismissed. Spurs lost to Arsenal in the North London derby, meaning that it would now take a completely implausible goal-difference swing for Liverpool to be knocked out of the top four.
As such, Arne Slot will be managing in the Champions League next season, if his move to Liverpool is confirmed as expected. That’s a nice parting gift from Klopp — quite apart from that being where the team belongs, you do wonder about the effects Thursday night football had on the squad during this campaign.
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But Klopp could still help Slot out further, and would do so by beating Spurs at the weekend. For one thing, this would be absolute mathematical confirmation of the Champions League spot, bringing with it the kinds of riches that were missed in the Europa League this season.
More importantly, though, victory would maintain an eight-point gap to Aston Villa. With just two games left to play after the Spurs match, that would ensure a third-placed finish for Liverpool.
Boosting a goal difference superior by 20, Liverpool would almost certainly put third place beyond Aston Villa with just a draw against Tottenham as well. But a win would make its position truly unassailable. Dropped point for the Villans against Brighton earlier in the day would have the same effect.
That comes with certain financial benefits. Although the big pot of gold is obviously the Champions League places, it’s thought that each Premier League place is worth $3.9m (£3.1m/€3.6m) in its own right, incentivizing Liverpool to finish as high as possible.
Should it come third as expected, its total Premier League payout for the season will be in the region of $200m (£160m/€187m). That’s per the ECHO.
This would be something of a boon for incoming manager Slot. Liverpool has always lived well within its means under FSG, but new financial rules further underline the importance of only spending a certain percentage of revenue. Bringing in more money, both by finishing higher up the table and returning to the Champions League, will offer greater spending power in the transfer market.
Slot himself is not expected to take the lead on transfers. He will join as ‘head coach’, with a team including Michael Edwards and incoming sporting director Richard Hughes leading the recruitment operation.
Liverpool.com says: Whoever controls the transfer kitty, having more to spend is obviously no bad thing. By finishing third, Liverpool will ensure there is a reasonable chunk of money to be spent on improving Slot’s squad as required.
Exactly how Liverpool will be in the summer, though, remains to be seen. Replacing Klopp with Slot is already a huge amount of upheaval, and the German is leaving behind a very good squad, so it should mostly just be a case of fine-tuning while maintaining a degree of continuity and stability.
