Arne Slot has been dealt a huge transfer blow as one of Liverpool's Premier League rivals are set to beat them to a big signing.
Earlier this week, Slot gave his first interview as Liverpool boss after replacing Jurgen Klopp.
Now he's officially in charge, the Dutchman could be active in the transfer window for new recruits ahead of the 2024/25 season.
But, according to reports, Slot won't be bringing Feyenoord ace Lutsharel Geertruida to Anfield this summer as he's reluctant to make a Dutchman his first signing.
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Defender Geertruida is regarded as one of the best talents in Europe following his performances in the Eredivisie last season.
Slot is thought to be a big admirer of the 23-year-old, who's valued around £25 million.
But the new Liverpool boss is set to put a halt to his side's pursuit of Geertruida after Erik ten Hag came under fire for signing so many Eredivisie players following his appointment at Manchester United.
His reluctance to make the deal happen has paved the way for Tottenham, who watched him regularly last season.
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Spurs are hoping they can lure Geertruida to the Premier League amid interest from Paris Saint-Germain.
Slot, meanwhile, has set a challenge to his Liverpool team ahead of the new season getting underway.
"I think in the end we would all love to see Liverpool a bit higher than third place and this is the challenge we are facing now - to build on from what we have," he said.
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"I have all the confidence in this because of the players, that we can add a few things where we hopefully can get a bit more points than 82, which is necessary with the likes of Arsenal and City, to end up hopefully a bit higher than we did this season.
"There are two things [why] to do this. Of course, to get to know more about the players because mostly you see them during the games.
"And you want to know also what the culture is, how they train and what they are used to.
"I think it’s always interesting if you are the successor of Jurgen Klopp and also Pepijn Lijnders, who does quite a bit of work on the training pitch, to see what their ideas were on the training pitch.
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“I said this, we all try to steal a bit from each other - mostly this is done by looking at the games but if you can see the way they train, that can only help you.
"Let one thing be clear: the players are not going to get all the same exercises again - we will implement our own things. But it’s interesting to see what they did also during the week."
Nasir Jabbar