Arne Slot has pinpointed pace as the crucial attribute he wants to inject into his championship-winning team this summer.
The Liverpool boss is set to hoist the Premier League trophy at Anfield following Sunday’s fixture against Crystal Palace. Despite a dominant league campaign, Slot feels there’s room for the Reds to become even more formidable.
Slot recently mentioned his desire for ‘extra weapons’ and elaborated on that point, stating: “I’ve said a few times we could add one or two qualities … pace is one of those that could make us even stronger.”
The anticipated signing of Dutch speedster Jeremie Frimpong will certainly bolster that aspect, but Slot acknowledges that the extent of summer acquisitions hinges on whether any current players decide to depart.
With Luis Diaz rumored to be on Barcelona’s radar and Darwin Nunez, who has found it challenging to secure a spot in the starting lineup, reportedly considering an exit from Liverpool, Slot remarked: “I don’t know exactly what is going to happen. One of the main strengths we had this season is that everybody accepted his role.
“And his role sometimes could be to start every single game, hardly be taken off, sometimes be taken off. It could be sometimes not starting every single game, sometimes not playing hardly minutes.
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“But everybody played his part in our success and that sometimes means you only come in for ten minutes and make the difference. But it can also mean that after you didn’t come in at all, you delivered a great training session afterwards.
“And I don’t know if all of them will accept the same role again for next season. But that is a vital part for me. Pep said something about it this week – he said I can’t manage 26 players that are all good enough to play. I think – but every person could be different – it could be quite difficult if you haven’t played a lot this season to go into a season one more time with that same prospect.
“But that is not up to me to decide – that is also up to the players to decide. So I can’t tell you how many we have to take.”
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And Slot is also waiting to see if all of his players come back fit and ready when the squad convenes on July 8. The Liverpool manager remarked: “We have a challenge because it would not be the first time in history that we have a team win something and they change in attitude.
“But to be honest with these players, a few of them have demonstrated that if they win something, they’re straight back at it the following season. Yet there are some who still need to prove this, because for a number of them, this is their maiden significant trophy victory and I’m intrigued to see how the off-season unfolds, especially with those players.”
