What happened when Arne Slot met Brendan Rodgers as Liverpool's would be king shows who he really is

Sleuthing Liverpool fans are on the hunt for proof that Arne Slot is the man who has what it takes to step into Jurgen Klopp's size 11s.

But as they pour over his historical record looking for signs of encouragement, there's a firm connection staring them right in the face: his meeting with their former boss Brendan Rodgers last season. Rodgers came within a whisker of scaling the mountain that catapulted Klopp into immortality and is easily their second best manager since the days of Rafa Benitez. And Slot, now into his fourth season at Feyenoord, is clearly a fan.

His team met Rodgers' Celtic twice in the Champions League group stages and speaking before the first meeting back in September, he said his admiration for the Irishman went back further than that. They were within 90 minutes of facing Rodgers' Leicester in the Conference League final, only for Jose Mourinho's Roma to halt that dream in its tracks - as they did with Feyenoord in the final.

As Slot's Feyenoord got ready to welcome Celtic to Rotterdam, he said: “They play football which I like to see. Brendan Rodgers did a very good job with Leicester City, reached the semi-final of the Europa League with football everyone enjoyed watching. This season he has done this with Celtic as well.

"There are players who stand out for me when it comes to the threat they have, especially the striker (Kyogo) and the left winger Maeda. I also like their midfield and the way they play and the style they play. It is my belief that the players all have individual skills, but they can grow because of the team.”

As it happened, Celtic were a match for them over the two games. The Rotterdam game was a proper battle in which Feyenoord had the firepower, even without key man