Liverpool kick off their Premier League season with a match against Bournemouth on Friday. In the 2024–2025 season, the Reds performed exceptionally well, finishing in 1st place with 84 points and being crowned champions under the new management of Arne Slot, who took over from Jurgen Klopp.
The 46-year-old had big shoes to fill, given Klopp’s remarkable legacy. The last time Liverpool won the Premier League under Klopp was in the 2019–2020 season, when they finished with 99 points and ended a 30-year title drought.
Speaking during the pre-match press conference, Arne Slot spoke about the Pre-season challenges the team has faced. “It’s not that I’m not happy about certain parts I told you a second ago. The standard around here is 10 out of 10. It’s not one or two things we do not do well. We do all well, but well is not good enough”.
The former coach of Feyenoord, who stepped in, in June 2024, also spoke about new signing Florian Wirtz. The 20-year-old joins Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen on a five-year contract on a record-breaking fee of £116 million, marking it as marks one of the highest fees ever paid for a teenager in football history.
“He might be young, but he has already won a lot. Factually, we see him as a young player, but in terms of his experience, I don’t see him as a young player. He won the league in Germany, he won the cup, played for his country, and apart from that, his mentality is his biggest strength, and that says a lot, and his so creative. I think good players always find a way to play well in a good team, and he is a good player”.
A new signing that is close to being finalized is the signing of 18-year-old defender Giovanni Leoni from Parma. An agreement was reached on Wednesday night. It seems like Leoni is already on a private jet, jetting to London for his medical, which is expected to begin in the afternoon.
Slot did not want to go into detail about the young man and says he will do that after the deal is signed and sealed.
“He has not signed with us as yet, so the moment he has signed with us, I will go into more detail”.
