The Premier League case against Manchester City over alleged breaches of its financial rules “will resolve itself in the near future,” its chief executive Richard Masters has said.

City remain in pole position to retain their title following a 4-0 win over Brighton on Thursday night, which would be their second since 115 charges were laid against them by the Premier League in February last year.

Asked whether a second City success while the charges remained outstanding would damage European league football, Masters said: “It’s not for the football authorities to start being selective about who they would like to win the league.

“The key point is that you’ve got that jeopardy until the final day. Who knows where we will be on May 19?”

Masters, speaking at the European Leagues general assembly, added: “Obviously we can’t comment on the case, the date has been set and the case will resolve itself at some point in the near future, and I cannot make any further comment on it.”

An independent commission is set to hear the case later this year, but certainly not before the current campaign ends. Given the extent of the charges, a decision in the case may not come until next year.

City said at the time the charges were laid that they welcomed a review of this matter by an independent commission “to impartially consider the comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence that exists in support of our position.”

The club added: “As such we look forward to this matter being put to rest once and for all.”

City trail Arsenal by a point heading into the weekend but have a game in hand on the Gunners.

If they can win the title, it would be their fourth in a row and sixth in the last seven seasons.

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As the Premier League season enters its final three weeks, the race for the European places remains an intriguing one.

Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League places are still up for grabs and the race to get them looks set to go the distance.

Seven English teams will play in Europe next season, despite an almost-certain lack of a fifth Champions League place, and only three spots could be classed as sewn up.

So, as the campaign boils down to its last days, here is how the battle is shaping up.

Firstly, how does European qualification work in the Premier League?Champions League

The top four teams in the Premier League gain qualification for the Champions League.

With the incoming changes to the format, there is the opportunity for an extra place but poor performances from English sides in European competitions this season mean Italy and Germany are set to earn those.

Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City will almost certainly confirm qualification in their remaining games while Aston Villa, in fourth, are best placed to join them.

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Europa League

There are two Europa League places given to English teams: one for the team that finishes fifth in the Premier League and the other for the FA Cup winners.

When the FA Cup winner finishes in the top five anyway, that place is deferred to the next-best finisher in the Premier League.

Tottenham Hotspur are the team in fifth and, despite aspirations of catching Villa in fourth, are likely to have to settle for a Europa League place.

Manchester United are well placed to take the other one; they face neighbours Manchester City in the FA Cup final for the second consecutive year and are the team currently occupying sixth in the Premier League table.

Europa Conference League

The one place for an English team in the Europa Conference League is given to the Carabao Cup winners.

That place is deferred to the Premier League table if the Carabao Cup winners earn a Champions League or Europa League place through their league position.

This season’s Carabao Cup winners were Liverpool, who cannot drop out of the top five in what remains of the season, so the Europa Conference League place will likely be given to the seventh-place finisher in the Premier League. That is currently Newcastle United, but there are a few teams still in contention.

Which teams are fighting for a European place?if(["rgb(17, 17, 17)", "rgb(0, 0, 0)", "rgb(18, 18, 18)", "rgb(26, 26, 26)"].indexOf(getComputedStyle(document.body).backgroundColor) != -1) {var x = document.querySelectorAll("#ath_table_845192 .ia-hlt");for (var i = 0; i < x.length; i++) {x[i].classList.add("dark-mode");}}var all_table_images = document.querySelectorAll("#ath_table_845192 img"); for (var i = 0; i < all_table_images.length; i++) {all_table_images[i].removeAttribute("onclick")};var link = document.createElement("link");link.rel = "stylesheet";link.type = "text/css";link.href = "https://use.typekit.net/cuz4pky.css";document.getElementsByTagName("HEAD")[0].appendChild(link);var link = document.createElement("link");link.rel = "stylesheet";link.type = "text/css";link.href = "https://use.typekit.net/dtk6elt.css";document.getElementsByTagName("HEAD")[0].appendChild(link);var link = document.createElement("link");link.rel = "stylesheet";link.type = "text/css";link.href = "https://theathletic.com/app/themes/athletic/assets/css/tables.css";document.getElementsByTagName("HEAD")[0].appendChild(link);

(Blue: Champions League qualification; Yellow: Europa League qualification; Green: Europa Conference League qualification)

It is fair to assume the top three will not drop out of the Champions League places in what remains of the season.

Below them, there is a six-team battle for the other four places with two more teams — Bournemouth and Brighton & Hove Albion — on the periphery.

Brighton’s fleeting hopes of another European tour were dealt a blow in their 4-0 defeat to Manchester City on Thursday and they will need a near-flawless run to the finish if they want any chance of a top-seven place.

In truth, the current top seven teams may not move much in the final three weeks of the season — an expectation shared by Opta.

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Tottenham can still catch Aston Villa in the final Champions League place but their inconsistent form and difficult run-in makes it unlikely that they will better Villa’s points total in what remains of the season.

It is equally unlikely, though, that they finish any lower than fifth. They need three wins from their six matches to guarantee fifth, but fewer points will probably be enough given the likelihood of the teams below them dropping points.

The battle for sixth is the one that looks likeliest to provide us with drama. If Manchester City win the FA Cup, sixth place will come with a Europa League place. If Erik ten Hag’s side win the FA Cup and don’t finish sixth, it will be a Europa Conference League place.

Manchester United can guarantee a Europa League place with an FA Cup triumph (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

Manchester United’s main competition looks to be Newcastle but, despite a poor season, Chelsea are also in the picture. United’s task is simple: keep the teams below them at bay.

To finish sixth, Newcastle need to pick up three more points than Manchester United during the run-in. Chelsea, meanwhile, need six more points than Manchester United and four more than Newcastle (due to Newcastle’s superior goal difference).

The two teams that miss out on sixth will then be in the running for seventh, which is likely to come with a Europa Conference League place.

West Ham (eighth), Bournemouth (10th) and Brighton (11th) all have an outside chance of a seventh-placed finish, although it looks like they have too much ground to make up on the teams above them due to points difference and games in hand.

(Top photos: Getty Images)

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Seven English teams will play in Europe next season, with only three spots that could be classed as secured. Here’s how the race is looking

Academy star Kieran Morrison has signed his first professional contract with Liverpool after a stellar season

Academy star Kieran Morrison has signed his first professional contract with Liverpool after a stellar season

Liverpool news as Premier League chief offers up a hint as to when Manchester City's long-awaited trial will be heard

Liverpool news as Premier League chief offers up a hint as to when Manchester City's long-awaited trial will be heard

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has had several gripes during his lengthy tenure at Anfield with the German set to bid a welcome goodbye to two things that have annoyed him

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has had several gripes during his lengthy tenure at Anfield with the German set to bid a welcome goodbye to two things that have annoyed him

As Liverpool look beyond Klopp’s farewell tour and conceive of a new vision, there is a discussion to be had about the Uruguayan striker

Sometimes it clicks. And in those moments when it clicks for Darwin Nunez, you could be excused for thinking you are watching the best centre-forward in the world, a wrecking-ball of a No 9 whose power and aggression are sometimes accompanied by an unexpected finesse.

Take a look at the two goals he scored away to Newcastle United in the opening weeks of this season, shortly after being sent on with a point to prove; that sumptuous volley on the half-turn, as the ball came over his shoulder, against West Ham United at Anfield; that ferocious strike soon after coming on at Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup in November; that outrageous, impudent chipped finish at Brentford to leave Mark Flekken clutching at thin air; well-taken goals for Uruguay against Colombia, Brazil, Argentina and Bolivia.

But it never clicks for long. Nunez is the definition of a player who blows hot and cold — not just from one month or one week to the next, but often from one minute to the next. Even within those hotter streaks, there are periods when the 24-year-old looks out of place in a team with serious ambitions. There are so many rough edges to his game.

Since mid-March, he has not so much blown hot and cold as blown out completely: nine appearances, just one goal (when he charged down a goalkeeper’s clearance against Sheffield United), numerous chances squandered and a series of performances that have varied between erratic and lethargic.

As has been discussed at length, there are numerous factors behind the collapse of Liverpool’s Premier League title challenge. It would be fair to describe the struggles of Nunez, whose best form this season came when others in the team were playing well, as a symptom of those ills rather than an overriding cause.

But as Liverpool begin to look beyond Jurgen Klopp’s farewell tour and to conceive of a new vision led by Michael Edwards, Richard Hughes and, they hope, Feyenoord coach Arne Slot, there is a serious discussion to be had over Nunez. After two seasons, has the Uruguayan done enough to be one of the cornerstones of Liverpool’s brave new world?

Nunez has scored 33 goals in 92 games for Liverpool. More than a third of those appearances have been from the bench. In the Premier League, it is 20 goals from 61 appearances: 15 goals in 41 starts, five in 20 from the bench. Add 11 assists to the equation and it looks healthy: a goal or assist every 77 minutes in the Premier League this season, a clear improvement on one every 141 minutes in his debut campaign.

The basic numbers look solid enough. Video showreels of his best bits look spectacular. But the concern is the other parts: the reliability of his finishing and build-up play, the sporadic nature of his performances, his curious relationship with the offside rule and the way his output and playing time has faded significantly from March onwards in three of the past four seasons.

Opta’s expected-goals (xG) metric shows a player who, in his four seasons playing top-flight football in Europe, has struggled to convert chances on a consistent basis.

In all but one of those campaigns (his second at Benfica), his goal return has fallen some distance short of his xG. Liverpool signed him on the back of that 2021-22 season in which he scored 26 league goals for Benfica from an xG of 18.4. That is an enormously impressive return, but it remains a distinct outlier in his career. Over his two seasons in the Premier League, he has scored 20 goals from an xG of 27.8.

If anything, the nature of Nunez’s goals — many of them powerful, audacious efforts from low-quality chances — skews the data. In that 14-minute cameo at Newcastle, he scored twice from two chances with a combined xG of 0.4. By contrast, across the home games against Newcastle and Chelsea, he took a total of 18 shots, with a combined xG of 3.0, but didn’t score.

This season, Nunez has taken more shots (104) than any other player in the Premier League despite spending more than one-third of the time on the sidelines. In terms of shots per 90 minutes, his total of 4.73 is by far the highest among players who have made more than a handful of appearances. Next come Fulham’s Rodrigo Muniz (4.44), Manchester City’s Erling Haaland (4.0), Tottenham Hotspur’s Richarlison (3.80) and then his Liverpool team-mate, Mohamed Salah (3.72).

Using Opta’s data, Nunez has missed no fewer than 46 “big chances” in the Premier League since joining Liverpool in the summer of 2022. Haaland has missed more (58), though he has scored almost three times as many goals (56) as Nunez over the same period.

Nunez’s shot map for this season captures the problem. The red dots show the goals, the black dots show the unsuccessful shots and the bigger the dot, the better the chance according to Opta’s xG model. The two most striking things about Nunez’s shot map are the number of large black dots close to the opposition goal and the number of tiny black dots more than 30 yards out. From 23 attempts from outside the penalty area, Nunez has scored twice — and one of those was that goal against Sheffield United.

The problem is that so many of his close-range finishes seem so untidy, so rushed and so lacking in composure. In isolation, the two he has hit straight at goalkeepers from similar positions in recent Liverpool defeats — denied by Crystal Palace’s Dean Henderson and Everton’s Jordan Pickford — would be easily forgotten.

When they are just the latest entries in a compendium of glaring misses, they are harder to excuse.

And when several of those “big chances” have been missed when his team are trailing in games — notably against Palace and Everton and away to Luton Town in November — it not only magnifies the incident but raises questions about temperament. The best centre-forwards have an ice-cold composure in front of goal. The majority of the time, Nunez seems like the opposite of that.

Former Liverpool forward Michael Owen received plenty of flak in February when he suggested on X that Nunez’s wonderfully taken goal at Brentford underlined a flaw as well as a strength.

It was an “incredible” finish, Owen said, but he added, “To even consider that finish is madness. (In terms of the probability of scoring) it’s a one-in-10, two-in-10 finish at best. Learning to slot, dink or go around the GK (goalkeeper) is a far more productive way to score and will increase his chances to four or five in 10, thus massively increasing his end return.”

Spool forward to Wednesday night and Owen was indignant after seeing Nunez leather the ball straight at Pickford from close range in the first half of the Merseyside derby. “I cannot defend that in any way, shape or form,” the one-time Ballon d’Or winner said on the Premier League’s global television feed. “He can finish sometimes, but to go from one extreme to another and be seven yards out and blast it straight down the middle is just not good enough. It’s a bit of play that you just don’t see world-class players doing.

“I cannot get my head around how you can finish like that one night (against Brentford) and be so calm and calculated and confident in one of the most difficult finishes known to man — it was impossible, virtually, what he did — and then get in a simple situation here (against Everton) and just put your head down and blast it as hard as you can. I cannot fathom it. It’s that extreme and then it’s this extreme.”

In Owen’s view, it comes down to “fundamental, basic things in front of goal”. But sometimes it’s about fundamental, basic things away from the goal. Such as staying onside.

Nunez has been caught offside 30 times in the Premier League this season, again more than any other player. To put it another way, he has been flagged offside once every 66 minutes he has spent on the pitch. To put that in context, he has been caught offside more often than Manchester City (once every 92 minutes).

Haaland has been caught offside just twice all season. That’s once every 1,091 minutes. And while there are obvious differences in style — both between the players and between the teams — one of the biggest differences is their ability to read the play before running onto a through ball. Both are quick enough not to need to set off early. Haaland times his runs brilliantly. Nunez? Not so much.

This is what is meant by “rough edges”. It applies to build-up play too. Some feel that Nunez’s all-round threat outweighs any concerns over his finishing, such is the fear he sometimes spreads through opposition defences — the “agent of chaos” and all that. But it was not always a convincing case earlier in the season — and it certainly hasn’t been the case lately.

There are times when Nunez gets it right, as seen with the goals he laid on for Curtis Jones and Cody Gakpo in the space of three minutes in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Fulham in January and some of the goals he laid on for Salah earlier in the season. But when it comes to link-up play, there are too many poor decisions, heavy touches and too many shots when a more patient, subtle approach is needed.

Klopp was happy to accept a relatively low goal return from Roberto Firmino because the Brazilian helped make Liverpool such a cohesive unit with and without the ball, bringing the best out of Salah, Sadio Mane and later Diogo Jota.

In many ways, Nunez is the anti-Firmino. He is an individualist rather than a team player. He is energetic and all-action but at times ineffective in the counter-press. He is trigger-happy but lacks accuracy. His shortcomings are easy to gloss over when he is scoring goals. When he is firing blanks, as has been the case lately, that becomes harder.

Jamie Carragher didn’t mince his words in the Sky Sports studio after Liverpool’s 2-0 defeat by Everton in the Merseyside derby on Wednesday night. Having said there is a question to be asked about Mohamed Salah’s future — 32 this summer, with only a year left on his contract and a new manager arriving — the former Liverpool defender added that he is “at the stage now where I don’t think there’s a question to be asked” about Nunez. And he didn’t mean it in a positive way.

Carragher spoke about having spent the past two years “wanting him to do well because there’s so much you like — because he gives everything, he runs, he causes trouble, he gets the odd goal, gets assists”.

“But we’ve all been in squads,” he said, “where someone comes in and for the first year we say, ‘OK, he’s getting up to speed, he’s improving, he’s getting better.’ And it looked like he was at the start of the season, but it has just ground to a halt.

“And you’re looking at it now and after two years, I don’t think there’s going to be a massive improvement in him. I think what we’ve seen in the two years, that’s what he is. He can cause trouble, he can be erratic in his finishing. It’s not going to improve. I don’t think it’s going to be enough to win the biggest trophies, so I think there’s a big decision to be made on him this summer.”

It won’t be Klopp’s decision. But the outgoing manager has not seemed thrilled by his centre-forward lately. In three games where Liverpool desperately needed a goal — 2-1 down at Manchester United, 2-0 down at home to Atalanta, 1-0 down at home to Crystal Palace — Nunez was substituted between the 59th and 68 minutes. In the next two games, away to Atalanta and Fulham, he appeared only briefly from the bench.

Out of sorts at Everton on Wednesday night, particularly after his first-half miss, he surely would not have lasted the 90 minutes had either Jota or Cody Gakpo been available.

Is two years long enough to make a judgment on a player, as Carragher suggests? Not always. If it was, a 28-year-old Didier Drogba might have been ushered out of Chelsea in the summer of 2006 rather than staying on long enough to score 33 goals in year three and going on to become one of the most feted players in the club’s history.

Drogba was that kind of player. Like Nunez, he could be a fearsome opponent, but there were also periods — even after his breakthrough — where team-mates and successive managers appeared ready to give up on him.

Interestingly, two of Nunez’s former Uruguay team-mates could relate similar experiences in Europe. Luis Suarez performed wonderfully for Ajax but was still seen as an inconsistent, erratic player, just short of elite level, until towards the end of his second season at Liverpool, aged 26. Diego Forlan was 25 when he left Manchester United to little fanfare after scoring 10 Premier League goals in two and a half seasons, but he flourished in La Liga with Villarreal and Atletico Madrid.

Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins is having the season of his life at 28. Bournemouth’s Dominic Solanke likewise at 26. “Everyone’s path is different,” Solanke told The Athletic recently, reflecting on his own experiences.

But at the moment it is hard to take issue with Carragher’s suggestion that Nunez’s inconsistency “is what he is”. It is telling that the forward lost his starting place in the final weeks of last season and started just one of Liverpool’s first five games Premier League this term. Klopp has consistently backed him and sung his praises without ever appearing entirely convinced by him.

Jurgen Klopp’s faith in Darwin Nunez has wavered of late (James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)

The big question now is whether Nunez survives a summer of sweeping changes at Anfield: the return of Edwards, the arrival of a new sporting director, a new head coach and, without question, some difficult decisions about how to freshen up a squad that surpassed expectations for much of the season but has been found wanting when the stakes are highest.

If Liverpool need to sell players to raise funds this summer, then Nunez is an obvious candidate. There will always be a market for centre-forwards who are proven, to whatever degree, at Champions League and Premier League level.

The flip side of that is, for Edwards, Hughes et al, there are not too many obvious, affordable top-class centre-forwards out there who would come with a guarantee of offering more. Nunez’s experiences, as well as the difficulties endured by Nicolas Jackson at Chelsea and Rasmus Hojlund, underline the risks involved in simply going for Europe’s latest flavour of the month.

Perhaps Klopp and his staff have missed a trick with Nunez, whether technical or psychological. Perhaps another coach, like Slot, will find a way to get more out of him. And perhaps given the lack of affordable top-class centre-forwards on the market, the logical thing would be to wait and see what happens with Nunez under a new coach with a fresh approach. Nunez will turn 25 this summer, his English is slowly improving and he might benefit from a new start on Merseyside.

But there is no guarantee of that. If anything, the past two seasons have heightened the feeling that Nunez’s inconsistency is something he will not just grow out of. It seems to reflect something in his nature. Sometimes it clicks, but it rarely stays clicked for long.

(Top image: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

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Liverpool defender Nat Phillips has spoken out about his Anfield future as his loan stint at Cardiff City nears its end

Liverpool defender Nat Phillips has spoken out about his Anfield future as his loan stint at Cardiff City nears its end

Jurgen Klopp believes Arne Slot is a smart choice as his successor as he told the incoming Liverpool manager: “You’re getting the best job in the world.” Liverpool are working to finalise a compensation package with Feyenoord for the Dutch coach, who has two years remaining on his...

Jurgen Klopp believes Arne Slot is a smart choice as his successor as he told the incoming Liverpool manager: “You’re getting the best job in the world.”

Liverpool are working to finalise a compensation package with Feyenoord for the Dutch coach, who has two years remaining on his contract.

A compromise is expected to be reached with Slot having made it clear that his heart is set on taking over at Anfield.

“I didn’t read anything but I was told that Arne said something,” Klopp said on the potential of Slot becoming his successor.

“I am not involved in the process. What I like a lot about it is if he is the one then he wants to take the job — he’s desperate, excited, let’s go for it.

“I like the way his team play football and all the things I hear about him as a guy. Some people I know, know him, I don’t know him yet.  Good coach, good guy.

“If he’s the solution for the club then I am more than happy. It’s not up to me to judge but it all sounds really good to me.”

Asked what Slot would be inheriting at Anfield, Klopp added: “Best job in the world, best club in the world.

“Also it looks like I help with not leaving on a high so space for improvement, let me say it like that. Great job, great team, fantastic people. A really interesting job.”

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Slot wants Liverpool job, 'confident' agreement will come

Wednesday’s defeat to Everton effectively ended Liverpool’s hopes of winning the Premier League title, but Klopp is keen to ensure his final season doesn’t just fizzle out.

Cody Gakpo will return to the squad for Saturday’s trip to West Ham United after missing the Merseyside derby to attend the birth of his son.

“Little Samuel is born. According to Cody, everything is fine. Mum well, boy well, father well and back in training yesterday,” Klopp said.

“I can’t remember ever being as disappointed and frustrated as I was after the Everton game. I blame myself 100 per cent because we were not in the mood. We lost pretty much all the decisive battles.

“I am pretty sure Arsenal and Man City now see it as a two-horse race now. But I am not in the mood to raise the white flag.

“The boys are incredible footballers and I have the job to create a situation where they can be the best version of themselves and that is where I have failed. I didn’t see any version of that in the Everton game.”

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'He makes players believe in him' - Dirk Kuyt and what he learnt from Arne Slot

(Nikki Dyer – LFC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

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Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp was quizzed about the form of forwards Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp was quizzed about the form of forwards Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah

Liverpool suffered a 2-0 defeat against Everton on Wednesday and Pep Guardiola revealed how he used that to warn his Manchester City players

Liverpool suffered a 2-0 defeat against Everton on Wednesday and Pep Guardiola revealed how he used that to warn his Manchester City players

Jurgen Klopp has praised the quality of Arne Slot's football, adding his potential appointment is "really good" for Liverpool.

Liverpool are in talks with Feyenoord to appoint the 45-year-old, who revealed on Thursday he is "confident" of moving to Anfield.

Slot has impressed in the Netherlands, winning the Eredivisie last season and the KNVB Cup earlier this month, and looks set to replace Klopp, who is leaving at the end of the season after nine years with Liverpool.

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Feyenoord boss Slot says he is confident the club will reach an agreement to allow him to join Liverpool as Klopp's successor

Asked about his potential successor, Klopp admitted: "I don't know anything about it. I'm not involved in the process."

However, he added: "What I like is that, if he is the one, he wants the job. He is excited.

"I like the way his team plays football. All the things I hear about him are that he's a good guy.

"I'm looking forward for the club if he is the solution. It all sounds really good."

Liverpool have endured a difficult few weeks, exiting the Europa League to Atalanta and losing to Crystal Palace and Everton in the Premier League.

However, Klopp says the likelihood that Liverpool are unlikely to add any more silverware this season could make Slot's first season at Anfield easier, saying: "It's the best job in the world.

"It will help that we're not finishing on a high so there's space for improvement."

Slot to Liverpool sums up search for 'untainted' coaches

Sky Sports football features writer Adam Bate:

After spending 48 hours immersed in the world of Arne Slot, it is easy to convince oneself that Liverpool have identified football's next super coach. A man operating at the tactical vanguard, an expert in man management and a master of the media.

But listening to the praise from those who have worked with Slot, the mind was cast back to going through that same process not only with Ruben Amorim's admirers only recently, but also when delving into the record of Erik ten Hag prior to his arrival two years ago.

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Jamie Carragher feels Arne Slot may find the step up from Feyenoord to Liverpool difficult as he would have to meet the club's current demands to compete for the biggest trophies every season

There were the stories of how he had transformed his previous teams, on and off the pitch. His open-door approach to management, his no-nonsense attitude that, given time, had led inexorably to success at Go Ahead Eagles, at Utrecht and at Ajax.

Back then, Manchester United's choice came down to Ten Hag or Mauricio Pochettino. One had just won the Dutch title, the other had just won the French title. But the key difference in how the two men were perceived boiled down to just one thing.

Pochettino had worked in the Premier League before.

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Slot had an awkward exchange with Sky Sports News reporter Gary Cotterill as he was asked about taking the Liverpool job

One might assume this to be a strength given the work he had done at Southampton and Tottenham. Indeed, the biggest match of Ten Hag's career had been a Champions League semi-final against Pochettino's Tottenham - lost in dramatic circumstances.

But it was Pochettino who was tainted by the realities of the Premier League, an awareness that this was a coach who had already gone up against Pep Guardiola and the rest and come up just short. Ten Hag offered hope. He could be the guru, the man to change it all.

In psychology, it is known as shiny object syndrome. That concept came to mind when considering the list of candidates to replace Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool. After Xabi Alonso ruled himself out of contention, the names floated were Amorim and Slot.

Carragher - why didn't Liverpool consider Tuchel? Image: Arne Slot and Thomas Tuchel

While Klopp offered a positive endorsement of Slot, Jamie Carragher says Liverpool should have considered a "proven winner" such as Thomas Tuchel.

Writing in The Telegraph, Sky Sports' Carragher said: "I would have given more thorough consideration to a coach like Thomas Tuchel, who took on and beat Pep Guardiola in the ultimate test - a Champions League final.

"Tuchel followed Klopp at Mainz and Borussia Dortmund and did well. It has not worked out at Bayern Munich this season, but you only have to look at Carlo Ancelotti and Unai Emery to recognise how top coaches recover from setbacks"

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Slot gives an inspirational team talk following a huge win against Ajax last season - his side then went on to win the Eredivisie

The former Liverpool defender believes Tuchel's reputation may have put Liverpool off, saying: "If another English club takes Tuchel, that would convince me they will significantly improve, but my sense is Liverpool don't want a coach with a reputation for being fractious.

"I would prefer a proven winner who could be difficult to manage to a coach who might be easy to manage but still have everything to prove.

"My overriding concern is this: does Slot move to England ready to take on Guardiola for the Premier League and Champions League?"

How PL's financial rules and Klopp similarities led Liverpool to Slot

Sky Sports News senior reporter Melissa Reddy:

Arne Slot has a strong track record of player development and outperforming his budget and resources in comparison to rivals at both AZ Alkmaar and Feyenoord.

This is important when scanning the football landscape and how it is going to change.

We have seen the teeth of the Premier League's Profitability and Sustainability rules, and with some clubs pushing for "anchoring" and a hard salary cap to be introduced, the importance of work on the training pitches, being able to bring through young talent, and operate well within means is going to be more pronounced.

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The Guardian's Jonathan Liew and The Times' Charlotte Duncker discuss whether Liverpool will anoint Slot as Klopp's successor

Under Fenway Sports Group, Liverpool have been run in a healthy, sustainable way and it is sensible to recruit a manager who can continue to maximise resources.

Most of the candidates under consideration by Liverpool ticked that box, but Slot's playing approach and philosophy, which marries so well with what Klopp has implemented at the club, set him apart.

It means there is no massive tactical upheaval or adaptation. Liverpool have one vision and playing style running through all age groups, which dictates the stylistic profile they recruit for, so it is sensible to continue with that.

The leap from the Eredivisie to a team that wants to win the Premier League and be a dominant force in Europe is a huge one, but every potential successor to Klopp carries risk.

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