Arne Slot: Liverpool boss bullish despite UEFA Champions League exit and player departures - ‘Future looks bright'

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Arne Slot is upbeat about what lies ahead for Liverpool, despite being destined to end the season without a trophy, after disappointing performances in the Premier League and UEFA Champions League.

Slot backs Ekitike to come back 'stronger' after 'devastating' injury

Video credit: SNTV

Liverpool mustered a weak defence of their domestic title and face a scrap to hold onto their top-five place.

They were also convincingly beaten 4-0 on aggregate by Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.

However, Slot took plenty of encouragement from that second-leg display against the European champions at Anfield and looked ahead to a summer of change, with Andy Robertson and Mohamed Salah both leaving at the end of this season.

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"For the people who watched the Paris Saint-Germain game, if you watched the home game, the future does look bright [for us],” he said in his pre-match press conference.

"This team have shown they can compete with the best in Europe. This is already a very strong team, but it takes some changes with Robbo [Robertson] and Mo [Salah] leaving. As I have said many times, the future looks bright for us.

"I don't think in numbers [of transfers needed]. In areas, and which players we know are going to leave. Let's first see what happens in the summer and we will know better what needs to happen."

Liverpool were rocked by the news that Hugo Ekitike had ruptured his Achilles in that second-leg defeat to PSG.

The Frenchman will now miss this summer’s FIFA World Cup, but Slot backed the 23-year-old to improve even more when he returns to action.

Slot added: "He hasn't been operated on yet. It is devastating for him, coming to a new club and having such an impact straight away.

"Your first thoughts are always with him, being out for such a long time and missing out on so many special moments.

"But he is not the first or last player who will experience this and so many have come back even stronger.

"I'm sure in 10, 15 years he will maybe even say this injury helped me to perform at an even higher level than I did before."

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One player who has returned to action is Alexander Isak, who has endured an injury-plagued first season at the club after his summer arrival from Newcastle United.

"I was saying that you cannot write the script that Alexander Isak is back from four months with injury when the other [Ekitike] is injured,” Slot continued.

"It's nice to have Alex back, although we also know that he is not ready to play 90 minutes yet."

The focus for Slot’s men is away at Everton, and the Dutchman is eager to be part of the first Merseyside derby at Hill Dickinson Stadium.

"It's always a very special game, Slot explained. "They are in a very good place at the moment. It's always special, but maybe you can add one or two percent to it because it's the first game at the new stadium.

"The crowd didn't affect me last season, the refereeing decisions affected me. Last season was my first Merseyside derby. I think their fans will be loud, as will ours.

"I think it is not the stadium in itself but the players which make the difference. The fans can help for sure."

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