Valentijn Driessen is firm about Feyenoord and Arne Slot

Valentijn Driessen does not have a good word for Feyenoord and Arne Slot. The team from Rotterdam was crowned champion of the Netherlands for the first time since 2017 last Sunday, but since winning the title it is almost only about the future of Slot. The success trainer is emphatically associated with Tottenham Hotspur. He has not yet given any information about his future. Driessen fears the worst for Feyenoord.

During the program Good morning Premier League on ESPN Sunday morning the eyes were on Dennis te Kloese. The general manager of Feyenoord had joined at a striking moment. After all, De Telegraaf released the news on Sunday morning that Tottenham Hotspur has made a million-dollar bid for Te Kloese. The top man of Feyenoord would not like a switch to the English top club. Te Kloese could not or did not want to say whether Slot Feyenoord will exchange for Tottenham Hotspur after this season.

The coach himself has also not yet provided any clarity about his future. That led to Good morning Premier League to the astonishment of Hans Kraay jr. and Driessen is equally dissatisfied with the state of affairs in Rotterdam. “After the championship game with Go Ahead Eagles and the ceremony on the Coolsingel, Slot did not want to say anything about his future. Nothing was allowed to overshadow the folk festival at Feyenoord, certainly not its future. And didn’t he have a contract until mid-2025? Since then, Slot has kept everyone at Feyenoord in the dark,” Driessen writes in his column on Monday The Telegraph.

“Why? Because he has been talking to Tottenham Hotspur for some time through his agent Rafaele Pimenta, the Brazilian lawyer who has taken over the place of her late boss Mino Raiola. She would have said ‘yes’ to Spurs’ boss Daniel Levy for Slot”, says Driessen. According to the football chief of The Telegraph Slot’s agent is coming to De Kuip this week. Driessen expects Slot to also accept the offer from Tottenham Hotspur and Feyenoord will therefore have to look for a replacement. “Feyenoord takes into account that Pimenta will tell Te Kloesse – he chooses Feyenoord and not Tottenham Hotspur – that his trainer-coach prefers Spurs over Feyenoord and that Slot wants to bring some staff members with him. In addition, she would like to know the lump sum for Slots contract until mid-2025.”

The current vicissitudes around Slot make Driessen think back to his departure from AZ. The coach joined Feyenoord at the start of the 2021/2022 season, but had already reached an agreement with the Stadium Club a few months earlier. At that time he was still a trainer at AZ. The club decided to immediately send him out. “When Slots was forced to leave AZ, it was agreed that he is a great trainer-coach, but that Slot only has an eye for the Arne Slot bv,” writes Driessen. “At AZ they made short work of this behavior from Slot. Feyenoord, on the other hand, allows itself to be kept on the leash, where it must demand clarity by means of a deadline. Feyenoord is bigger than Slot and the club has to move on.”