In the end, Liverpool's hierarchy agreed with Mohamed Salah. They agreed that Arne Slot needed to leave, which was the obscured message between the lines of the legendary forward's final incendiary outburst before bowing out, nine years on, goalscoring extraordinaire.
Salah has been poor this season, but the 33-year-old has been one element of an overwhelming decline. Liverpool finished fifth, securing Champions League, but only just, by the skin of their teeth.
Speaking candidly for a moment, there has been a degree of toxicity at Liverpool this season that simply shouldn't hang like a miasma over this club. Not this club, proud and united and walking together, never alone.
Arne Slot's Premier League Record with Liverpool
24/25
38
25
9
4
86:41
84
2.21
Slot lifted the Premier League last season, beamed as Anfield sang his name, but too much has changed over the past year, Merseyside's tectonic plates slipping and sending the Reds into a hurtling tail-spin.
Farewell, Slot. You won Liverpool the Premier League, turned rival doubters into bitter believers as you walked in Jurgen Klopp's shoes. But now it's over, and FSG need to replace the Dutchman with a manager who will take the club back to the top. Andoni Iraola, anyone?
Who Liverpool plan to hire this summer
Iraola, who has departed Bournemouth at the end of his contract, is the overwhelming favourite to replace Slot in the Anfield dugout ahead of the 2026/27 campaign.
The Spaniard has done exemplary work on the south coast over the past three years, and his front-footed and aggressive style identifies with the way in which FSG and the fanbase want Liverpool to play.
However, Liverpool's American owners are nothing if not careful, and they have drawn up a list of alternatives as talks begin to find a solution.
According to The Athletic's David Ornstein, Stuttgart manager Sebastian Hoeness is also on FSG's radar, deeply admired by the Anfield hierarchy and being considered as an Iraola alternative.
sebastian-hoeness-newcastle-stutgart
The 43-year-old has lifted Stuttgart up to title-winning heights over the past few years. A big personality, he would tick a lot of boxes, a high-octane, gegenpressing pupil with a big personality.
Though Iraola is the frontrunner, there's every chance that Hoeness will go on to achieve great things as a manager, especially when considering he has a Klopp-esque way about him.
Why Hoeness can be Liverpool's new Klopp
Hoeness' fast-tempo approach suggests thathe might be among the most suitable options for a Liverpool side who become passive and ponderous under Slot's management, losing themselves in startling fashion.
Moreover, Hoeness has shown that he can weather the storm, survive adversity. Two relegations from the Bundesliga across the past decade have pulled Stuttgart away from the limelight, but that has changed over the past several years with Hoeness in charge.
The German narrowly avoided relegation in 2022/23 and then finished 2nd, ahead of Bayern Munich, the year after. He has lifted the DFB-Pokal and reinvented a German side who now stand proud among the country's elite.
Could he end up being Liverpool's 'next Klopp', as he's been described? Analysts have already started to beat that drum, though he probably operates in something of a hybrid fashion, more emphasis on possession-based football while still overwhelming opponents with intense, suffocating pressure.
jurgen-klopp-club-world-cup-trophy
It would certainly prove a tonic after a draining year in Slot's system, though, and his is a personality that would see him immerse himself in Merseyside life, as Liverpool's former German manager did.
Hoeness is a young and enterprising coach whose career path thus far carries a hint of Klopp, winning silverware in Germany and bringing the fast and furious style that Liverpool's fanbase have come to expect of their team.
Iraola is proven in the Premier League, but he hasn't yet played in Europe, and whether he can manage the expectations and demands of Premier League life is anyone's guess, though the pointers certainly favour him.
sebastian-hoeness-next-bayern-munich-manager
Whether he will win the race against Iraola remains to be seen - indeed, it looks like FSG favour the outgoing Bournemouth boss - but Hoeness will certainly give them food for thought, bringing all the qualities that allowed Klopp to create a dynasty on Merseyside.
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