Chelsea are chasing the signing of Xabi Alonso after Liverpool’s renewal of Fabrizio Romano

Under-pressure Liverpool manager Arne Slot has promised that next season will be better after their Champions League hopes came to a screeching halt following a “devastating” 4-2 defeat at Aston Villa.

The Slot says Liverpool will improve in the transfer window

The Reds could have sealed their place in Europe’s top competition next season but it was Villa who got over the line with a comfortable victory that gave them the perfect chance of a place in the Europa League final on Wednesday.

Goals from Ollie Watkins and superb goals from Morgan Rogers and John McGinn ensured Unai Emery’s men finished in the top five, while Liverpool’s wait continued.

Virgil van Dijk scored twice but it was another lopsided performance for the Reds as the pressure mounted on Slot, who oversaw a 12th defeat of the season.

The Dutchman has admitted fans may not have reason to be optimistic, but is expecting a better campaign.

“I understand at this point that they don’t have a lot of confidence or a lot of feeling that things can get much better next season,” Slot said.

“But I think they underestimate what a window can do, a fresh start can do, and I think we know exactly what we have to improve.

“I think one of the things we need to improve is also very obvious, really, and I’d rather not talk about it here, but actually you almost forced me.

“If you’re missing nine players who could start a game of football, and almost all of them are our starters or have played most of the season, if you add that to what you can fix in the window and add that to players who are playing their second season in the Premier League, that will automatically lead to more.

“I don’t think the difference is that big, just doing the right thing in a few cases can have a huge potential increase.”

Liverpool are still favorites to book their place in the Champions League and it is possible in the next few days if Brighton and Bournemouth drop points, while they can take care of their business by beating Brentford on the final day.

“A loss because we needed a win or maybe two draws would have been enough, but now we know one thing for sure, that we need to win next week if we have to do it for ourselves,” said Slot.

“As we all know that other teams need to pick a point for us to win, but it hurts a lot that we couldn’t get a result, let alone a win here.”

Chelsea are quick to sign Alonso’s deal after Liverpool’s revival

Speaking on his YouTube channel on Saturday morning, Fabrizio Romano shared an update on Liverpool’s chances of signing Xabi Alonso.

The reporter said that it is still FSG’s intention to stick with Slot, and as of now Chelsea are in fact quick to close the deal – perhaps out of concern that things could change at Anfield.

Indeed, the Blues want to close the appointment in a few days, Romano said, and Alonso is the only manager they have met in person.

Other candidates such as Andoni Iraola and Marco Silva have held talks with their agents, but as of now Alonso is the clear frontrunner with BlueCo hoping to close the deal quickly.

And it would be in their best interest to do it before the end of the season, with Romano suggesting that Liverpool’s situation could change if Slot fails to secure Champions League qualification.