Arne Slot admits Liverpool need to be “close to perfection” to qualify for next season’s Champions League – with that vital to compete in the transfer market.
Slot claimed in his pre-Sunderland press conference that a quiet first summer transfer window, which saw Federico Chiesa as the only arrival, was due to Liverpool playing Europa League football in the previous campaign.
“If we don’t have Champions League football, it’s definitely not been an acceptable season,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
“When I arrived here we could only sign Federico Chiesa and that was after a Europa League season, so that does have an enormous impact in the way this club is run.
“That is clear. I’m completely aware of that.”
While it is clear that the financial benefits of playing in the Champions League far outweigh any payments from Europa League participation, sporting director Richard Hughes gave a different account in the recent ‘Reds Roundtable’.
“We knew that the first summer together as soon as we came in wasn’t going to be a particularly active one,” Hughes explained.
“Alongside the ownership, with their long-term vision, they like to do things with all the metrics and the data in their favour.
“And the best way to do that is to prepare one year ahead, so one summer window to the next.
“So we deliberately did not a lot in the first season when we came in, but knew that we could identify throughout the course of last year players that would come in and help the squad.”
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Sunday, February 8, 2026: Liverpool's head coach Arne Slot (R) shakes hands with Manchester City's Antoine Semenyo after the FA Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Manchester City FC at Anfield. The game ended 1-2. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
Nevertheless, Liverpool will rightly view securing Champions League football as their top priority in the remaining months of this campaign.
The most realistic route of doing so is by their performance in the Premier League, where it is almost certain that a fifth-placed finish will be enough to qualify for the top tier of Europe.
“[We have to be] close to perfection, because of the points we are behind,” Slot said of Liverpool’s chances of doing so.
“We also know that it’s different when you are four points behind a team that’s 18th or 19th in the league, because they usually don’t pick up as many points as the third, fourth or fifth pick up.
“To close the gap of four, five points towards third, fourth or fifth, that means you have to win a lot. That’s not what we’ve done this season a lot.
“That’s why that has to be better and we have to come close to perfection.
“Margins are indeed very small, because [on Sunday], seven minutes before the end we were five points behind City and five minutes later we were 11 points behind.”
The Big Debate
Should Liverpool sack Arne Slot?
Arne Slot has admitted that anything less than Champions League qualification is “unacceptable,” yet a gap is widening between his squad and the top tier of Europe. Would a new head coach inspire a more successful end to the campaign?
Join the debate: Does Slot deserve more time or should the club move on? Let us know below!