Jamie Carragher has lifted the lid on a conversation he had with Arne Slot during the summer, with a chance meeting with the Liverpool boss pointing toward a new priority for the club.
Things haven’t gone to plan for the Reds so far this season after a huge spending spree in the transfer window, which saw records being broken for Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak.
The club’s new signings have struggled to settle in though, and Liverpool’s hopes of defending its Premier League title already look to be hanging by a thread, having already fallen eight points behind Arsenal after just 11 games.
Carragher has warned his former club that it needs to dip back into the market in January and sign a new defender if it is to rescue its title hopes - although the defender-turned-pundit suspects Slot may have another priority.
He opened up on a chat he had with the Liverpool boss during the summer, with Slot seemingly hinting that the Reds’ priorities might lie in Europe this season.
Speaking on Sky Sports’ new special Inside: Liverpool, Carragher revealed: "I actually bumped into Arne Slot in the summer when he was away, we were both on holiday, and he was there with his family, and I thanked him for what he'd done for Liverpool last season in terms of winning the league.
Arne Slot and former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher
Arne Slot and former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher (Image: Getty Images)
"And he introduced me as a Champions League winner to his wife and his kids.
"And I'd almost feel like he thinks, 'That's our next step.'
"I could feel it the way he said it, 'We've won the league, but we want to win the Champions League' - it was that type of thing.
"And it just stuck with me in his head; you can feel he desperately wants it, as all top managers do, but when you're a manager of Liverpool, the club is synonymous with the Champions League, so we have to go close."
This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more
Liverpool FC 2025/26 kits
Liverpool is well-positioned to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League.
The win over Real Madrid earlier this month leaves the Reds inside the top eight of the league phase, which would see them go straight through to the last-16 without the need for a play-off.
They resume their European campaign on Wednesday when they host PSV Eindhoven, with games against Inter Milan, Marseille, and Qarabag still to come before the end of January.
The Reds will be hoping to go further than they did last season in the competition, having fallen at the first hurdle in the knockout stages to eventual champion Paris Saint-Germain, and Slot’s side has been backed as one of the favorites to reach the final in Budapest.