New Liverpool boss Arne Slot insists he is 'NOT a clone' of Jurgen Klopp and explains why having big shoes to fill at Anfield has advantages

Just like much of the country, there is a new man in office at Liverpool – but although the overall tone of Arne Slot’s first speech as Liverpool head coach on Friday saw him vow to build on Jurgen Klopp’s ideologies, the Dutchman admitted he is ‘not a clone’ of his predecessor.

Slot faced the media for the first time since his move from Feyenoord and was flanked by fellow new face Richard Hughes, the sporting director, and shot down suggestions he had trepidation about filling the sizable shoes of Klopp.

Asked about this, he said: ‘Not at all. You can look at it both ways. They are big shoes to fill but you can look at it as inheriting a squad and a team which has a winning culture.’ 

He later added: ‘I don’t take over from a manager where I have to change the playing style completely.

‘At my former club, Feyenoord, I would say the playing style (upon arrival) was completely different to the style I wanted to implement. Now there are a lot of similarities but of course I am not a clone of Jurgen.

‘We will have some differences and I think the players will see them but also some similarities as well. 

'Ideally I would have started in a season when there were no Euros and no Copa America (in terms of a truncated pre-season) but that’s not the situation.’

Despite being just the first day of pre-season and half of the squad away at international tournaments, it was a hive of activity at the AXA Training Centre, with a number of key men already doing fitness work. Mohamed Salah and Wataru Endo are due back over the weekend.

Salah snubbed the chance to play the Paris Olympics with Egypt and his contract expires in less than a year. 

Trent Alexander-Arnold and captain Virgil van Dijk, who turns 33 on Monday, are also heading into the last year of their Liverpool deals.

Sporting director Hughes was asked about this and said: ‘The only concern I and Arne have about situations is total commitment from the players for next season and we are absolutely convinced that will be the case.’