Trying to get a side drilled in your style as a new gaffer can be difficult for any boss, let alone when replacing an iconic manager at the end of his having led the club through their best period in a generation.
That’s what Arne Slot has inherited from Jurgen Klopp, however, and the additional burden of having been without some of his key players for the early weeks of pre-season thanks to their international commitments at Euro 2024 and the Copa America will only have squeezed his time even more.
To that end, Liverpool now want to add an extra game to their friendly schedule this summer to ensure the Dutchman gets at least some game time into them before they kick off their Premier League campaign, with the Daily Mail writing that Spanish side Las Palmas have been contacted.
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Liverpool were more affected than most Premier League club’s by this summer’s international schedule. Alexis Mac Allister was part of Argentina’s Copa America-winning side, with Colombian Luis Diaz on the losing team in the final. Darwin Nunez won the third-place play-off with Uruguay, while Brazilian Alisson reached the quarter-finals with Brazil.
Liverpool meanwhile had nine players representing them at Euro 2024, including England finalists Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez. Reaching semis were Dutch captain Virgil van Dijk and countrymen Cody Gakpo and Ryan Gravenberch, plus Frenchman Ibrahima Konate. Portugal’s Diogo Jota reached the quarter-finals.
Hungary captain Dominik Szoboszlai and Scotland skipper Andrew Robertson meanwhile came home after the group stage.
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Numerous Liverpool players went deep into international tournaments this summer, including Trent Alexander-Arnold (Image credit: Getty Images)
The Mail add that Gravenberch and Konate have only joined Slot’s training camp in Philadelphia this week, while Alexander-Arnold, van Dijk and Alisson are also yet to have trained under Slot.
Liverpool have faced Preston North End and Real Betis so far this summer, losing the first 1-0 and winning the second 1-0.
They will take on Premier League rivals Arsenal and Manchester United Stateside on Wednesday and Sunday respectively, then Sevilla at Anfield the following Sunday; the proposed Las Palmas game would likely be played the day before.
Liverpool’s league campaign is then set to kick off away to newly-promoted Ipswich Town in a lunchtime kick-off on Saturday August 17.
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