Arne Slot ‘Offered’ Liverpool Exit As Ownership Stance Emerges

Liverpool have sunk to lows not seen since Brendan Rodgers’s doomed reign more than a decade ago.

Arne Slot has endured a ruinous second season at Liverpool. | Robbie Jay Barratt-AMA/Getty Images

Arne Slot was reportedly sounded out as a potential candidate to take charge of Dutch giants Ajax this coming summer. The waning Eredivisie outfit are thought to have been swiftly rebuffed in another sign of Liverpool’s staunch commitment to their current coach.

Slot would be a natural choice for Ajax. The former Netherlands youth international won the Dutch top flight as manager of Feyenoord and took AZ Alkmaar to the brink of a rare championship only to be foiled by the COVID-19 pandemic halting the season. Ajax were Slot’s closest challengers during his time in the league but the Amsterdam outfit have endured a precipitous decline recently.

The four-time European champions currently lie fourth in the Dutch league, 23 points adrift of champions PSV Eindhoven with only two matches of a miserable campaign remaining. Caretaker manager Óscar García is set to part ways with the club over the summer and the net of potential suitors has been cast by sporting director Jordi Cruyff.

Mike Verweij of the Dutch publication De Telegraaf recently revealed that inquiries over Slot’s availability have been made by Ajax. They proved “futile.”

“Slot is still firmly in the driver’s seat; he’s just carrying on at Liverpool,” Verweij reported with convinction. “I also understand that Arne Slot isn’t particularly keen on joining Ajax at this point in his career.”

The notion of Slot’s unchallenged status as Liverpool manager—despite a desperately underwhelming defense of their Premier League title—is one which has been spread widely and loudly. The club’s fans may disagree with the board, but co-owner John Henry is not an easily pliable character.

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Liverpool Co-Owner’s Stance on Fan Unrest

Liverpool’s owners are shrewd financial operators. | IMAGO/PRiME Media Images

“Fans get frustrated,” the head of Liverpool’s ownership company, Fenway Sports Group (FSG) told the Sports Business Journal this week. Boasting a majority stake in MLB franchise the Boston Red Sox as well as investment in NHL and NASCAR, Henry has developed a thick skin.

“The Sox looked terrible for [their] first 25 games,” Henry continued. “I remember a plane flying overhead when we [Liverpool] were beating Manchester United 7–0 that read ‘FSG OUT!’

“It doesn’t mean you ignore them, it means you work harder—you don’t settle for mediocrity. You have to win.”

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Liverpool’s Decline Under Slot

Statistic (Premier League)	2024–25	2025–26
Games	38	35
Wins	25	17
Draws	9	7
Losses	4	11
Goals Scored	86	59
Goals Against	41	47
Goal Difference	+45	+12
Points	84	58

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Throughout FSG’s 16-year ownership of Liverpool, Henry has only sacked two managers. Roy Hodgson, who was appointed a matter of months before the takeover in October 2010, was relieved of his duties in January 2011.

Brendan Rodgers took Liverpool to second place in 2013–14 before sinking to the depths of sixth the following season. Henry resisted the temptation to fire Rodgers during the summer of 2015 before belatedly pulling the trigger in October.

Defeat to Manchester United on Sunday was Liverpool’s 18th reverse of the season across all competitions, the most the club has suffered since those dark days of Rodgers. When Slot became the first Reds boss to suffer five straight defeats to English opposition since the time of post-war rationing in the U.K., he claimed that the board remained on his side.

At that point of the season, there appeared to be a very real possibility that Liverpool would miss out on Champions League qualification, a doomsday scenario for the club’s finances after such an extravagant summer spend in 2025. However, now that a spot at Europe’s top table has been all but secured, it appears as though Slot can be confident of holding onto his position.

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