Premier League news: Liverpool back Slot with move for No 2; Everton need ‘a big summer’

Liverpool are closing in on the appointment of Etiënne Reijnen to their coaching staff, a move that would underline the club’s continued support for Arne Slot.

Slot’s position remains under intense scrutiny with Liverpool yet to seal Champions League qualification, Anfield turning on the style of play in the last home game and several members of the first-team squad liking Mohamed Salah’s critical social media post last Saturday. The club, however, are backing Slot’s request to strengthen his backroom team this summer and are working on a deal for Feyenoord assistant manager Reijnen.

Reijnen played with Slot at PEC Zwolle and became the Liverpool head coach’s assistant at Feyenoord in 2023. Slot wanted to bring the 39-year-old with him when first appointed at Anfield but work permit issues scuppered the move.

A deal to reunite Slot with his former assistant has not been completed but is progressing. Feyenoord’s technical director, Dennis te Kloese, seemingly confirmed Reijnen’s exit this week when saying: “Reijnen is simply a very talented young coach. He doesn’t just go abroad to work for no reason.”

Slot refused to confirm the move on Friday. “As long as things are not done, then I will not be commenting on who we are signing or who we don’t,” he said. But he added: “It is fair to say that I have worked with him before and I have a very high regard for him in terms of the coach he is. It is also clear that I tried to sign him two years ago when I first came here but we couldn’t do it.”

The Liverpool head coach would also not be drawn on Salah’s latest attempt to undermine him or whether the Egypt international will be involved in Sunday’s finale against Brentford, when both the forward and Andy Robertson will say farewell to Anfield. But he agreed with Salah on the importance of Champions League qualification and insisted Liverpool’s focus must be on securing a top-five finish before turning to the send-offs.

“If you were to ask these two players – and I think it was also one of the things Mo said in his post – that he also understands how important qualification for the Champions League is for us.

“If we want to have an even more solid base than the one we have built this season, going into next season, then Champions League football is vital for that. It will give it an even more sold base than without Champions League football.” Andy Hunter

2. Moyes says Everton must ‘dodge and weave a bit’

David Moyes says Everton need “a big summer” when the club’s owners must show the ambition to push the team forward.

The Everton manager admitted he is despondent over a poor end to the season that has squandered the opportunity to qualify for Europe and demonstrated a lack of quality in the squad. “It’s shown it only takes a couple of your better players to lose form and your results can change,” he said.

But having competed at the right end of the table for the first time in several years, Moyes believes the Friedkin Group’s next moves will determine how far the team can progress.

“A big summer might mean that we just make one really top signing that makes the difference to the team, it doesn’t necessarily mean we go out and buy six players,” said Moyes. “As a football club we need to show it [ambition]. I want the ownership to show that we are going again. I hope we can add to what we have got and excite the supporters a little bit more with what we are trying to do.

“I know that Everton fans have had too many dark days over recent seasons. This season showed a little bit of brightness. We have to build on that. We have to keep progressing and not thinking that we have done enough because we are not in relegation trouble. I am confident the owners will help us to get the next piece of the jigsaw. We are not a club to go and spend, as some other clubs do, £200m-£300m. We don’t have that. We will need to dodge and weave a bit and hopefully make the right choices.”

Everton visit relegation-threatened Tottenham on the final day when a first win in seven games for Moyes’s side, coupled with a West Ham victory over Leeds, would keep the Scot’s former club in the Premier League.

“Look, I would love to keep West Ham in the league if I can do but it is more important that I get Everton that top half finish and we get a few more million pounds because of the league position,” he said. “We have to try and finish as high as we possibly can but I really do hope West Ham stay up.

“ I will not be turning up at Tottenham with kids and trialling players to give them an opportunity to show what they can do. They have had that opportunity during the season to show me whether they are ready to play or not. We are only going to Tottenham with a focus of trying to get a result.” AH

3. Merino on comeback trail after needing mobility scooter

Arsenal’s Mikel Merino feared that he might never play again after sustaining a stress fracture in “a very strange part of the foot where not even the specialists had seen before” that left him needing a mobility scooter to get around for two months.

The Spain midfielder is expected to be named in Luis de la Fuente’s World Cup squad next week after returning to training and is hopeful of playing some part in Arsenal’s final game against Crystal Palace on Sunday, when Mikel Arteta’s side will be presented with the Premier League trophy. Merino admitted it has been difficult to watch from the sidelines as his team closed on their first title for 22 years and revealed that he struggled to cope given the uncertainty over the injury at first.

“At the beginning I was a little scared,” he said. “We didn’t know what to expect, what path to take during the recovery and if I was going to be able to play again. The first couple of weeks were tough. I tried to crack on with it, have the right mentality, be positive and with the right motivation to try to go forward. Everything has gone perfectly since.”

Merino added: “I had two options, to go down and cry myself to extinction or keep my head up, be positive and try to use my time to improve other aspects. Working as hard as I can is the way I approach life. With the mobility scooter it’s just trying to bring fun out of it, see the sun. I couldn’t walk for two months. It’s a hard time on crutches. The mobility scooter was a fun way to see the light of day and enjoy time with the dog.” Ed Aarons

4. Burnley’s top flight return ‘going to be a big job’

Mike Jackson has warned there are no guarantees Burnley will immediately return to the Premier League following the club’s third relegation in five seasons. Since a five-year stay in the top flight ended in 2022, the Clarets have twice bounced back from the Championship at the first time of asking.

“There will be expectation because we’ve done it straight away twice on the spin,” said the interim head coach. “But that takes a lot. That’s a lot of work that needs to be done – off the pitch, on the pitch – to be able to achieve that. You’ve got to be fully committed to that, so that’s what we’ve got to do as a club now, really hone in on how we are going to get straight back up. But it’s going to be a big job.”