Arne Slot fired as Liverpool manager a year after winning Premier League title

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Liverpool fired manager Arne Slot on Saturday following a troubled second season in charge, just a year after he won the Premier League title.

Fenway Sports Group, the club’s American ownership, said it made a “difficult” decision after Liverpool finished fifth and trophy-less in a disappointing title defense.

“We have collectively come to the conclusion that change is necessary in order for the club to keep moving forward,” the ownership said in a statement. “Again, it must be stressed that this is not a decision which has been reached lightly, anything but.”

Slot replaced club icon Jurgen Klopp in the summer of 2024 and led Liverpool to a record-tying 20th English league title.

Liverpool spent an unprecedented $570 million to strengthen the squad for his second season but most of the expensive signings, including Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and injury-hit striker Alexander Isak, underwhelmed.

The club also was affected by the death of Portugal forward Diogo Jota last summer.

A person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press that the decision did “not sit easily” with Liverpool and “on a human level” did not “feel entirely fair."

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the club had already issued a public statement.

The person said it was increasingly inevitable that a change of coach was required and it was better to act sooner to avoid disrupting preparations for next season.

The process to assess Slot’s replacement has begun, with Liverpool seeking a manager who will play a more “aggressive and urgent” style of soccer. Andoni Iraola, the Spanish coach who left Bournemouth at the end of this season, would fit that description and is the frontrunner to come in.

Slot, 47, appears to have paid the price for failing to emulate a debut campaign that exceeded expectations.

Filling the boots of a club icon was always going to be an arduous task. So, for the Dutchman to match Klopp's one Premier League title at the first time of asking was a remarkable feat and emulated the likes of Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti and Antonio Conte by being crowned champion in his first year in the league.

While a fifth-place finish that secured Champions League qualification does not represent a terrible campaign, Liverpool's slump in form was notable and prompted boos from fans.

A public fallout with the legendary winger Mohamed Salah did not help either.

Slot was adamant there would be an improvement in the third and final year of his contract, but Liverpool's hierarchy was unconvinced.

“That this was a difficult decision for us to make as a club goes without saying,” the club statement said. “The contribution Arne has made to Liverpool FC in the time that he has been with us has been significant, meaningful and — most importantly of all to supporters and ourselves — successful.

“As such, our appreciation for everything he has achieved could not be greater, particularly as it was underpinned by a work ethic, a diligence and a level of expertise which further underlined our view that he is a leader in his field.”

Liverpool joins Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea as another top English team to make a coaching change ahead of next season.

Michael Carrick has been given a long-term deal to replace the fired Ruben Amorim at United and Pep Guardiola has left City after 10 trophy-laden years, with Enzo Maresca favorite to take over. Chelsea has appointed former Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

FILE - Liverpool's manager Arne Slot kisses the winner's trophy as he celebrates after the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Crystal Palace at the Anfield stadium in Liverpool, England, Sunday, May 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super, File)

FILE - Liverpool's manager Arne Slot talks to Mohamed Salah during the Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Tottenham in Liverpool, England, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Super, File)

FILE - Liverpool's manager Arne Slot holds the winner's trophy as he celebrates with the players after the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Crystal Palace at the Anfield stadium in Liverpool, England, Sunday, May 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super, File)

FILE - Liverpool's manager Arne Slot reacts on the touchline during the Champions League quarterfinal second leg soccer match between Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain in Liverpool, England, Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland, File)

BUNIA, Congo (AP) — The head of the World Health Organization on Saturday visited eastern Congo’s Bunia, a city at the heart of an outbreak of a rare type of Ebola, where the virus is spreading faster than the response despite better-organized health facilities and new aid arrivals.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is expected to visit a treatment center and meet local authorities, health workers and affected families in Bunia.

“The best way to address this is to provide all the necessary support to fight the disease at its epicenter and to continue offering every assistance needed,” the WHO's director-general told reporters late Friday.

The health organization said latest official figures showed 906 suspected cases and 223 suspected deaths. Neighboring Uganda has confirmed nine cases and one death, the Ugandan ministry of health said Friday.

The Bundibugyo virus, the current kind of Ebola, has no approved treatment or vaccine.

“This is a difficult situation, and we recognize that. But the Democratic Republic of Congo has faced the Ebola virus many times before. We are confident that it can once again bring this outbreak under control,” Tedros said after meeting with Congo's Prime Minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka on Friday.

Medical aid donated by the European Union arrived in Ituri, the heart of Congo’s Ebola outbreak, on Thursday. More shipments are expected in the coming days. The U.S. announced $80 million in additional aid on the same day, bringing its total commitment to more than $112 million.

Response efforts at Bunia's Rwampara and General hospitals appear more organized, with additional staff, protective gear and medical supplies, though patients continue arriving around the clock, a reporter from The Associated Press observed on Friday.

The response has not kept pace with one of the fastest-spreading outbreaks on record, Doctors Without Borders, or MSF, warned on Saturday.

“Never before has an Ebola outbreak recorded so many cases so soon after its declaration,” Dr. Alan Gonzalez, MSF’s deputy director of operations, said in a statement. “Nobody knows the true scale and severity of this outbreak.”

Gonzalez called for an immediate expansion of testing, faster deployment of aid workers and sustained access for medical supplies.

The dangers faced by health workers have been heightened by anger among residents over the stringent medical protocols for handling the victims’ bodies, which clash with local burial rites. Residents have launched at least three attacks against health centers.

Attacks in Ituri by the Allied Democratic Forces, a rebel group allied with the Islamic State group, and a coalition of ethnic militias have also hindered the response.

The illness also has been reported in the Congolese provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu, south of Ituri, where the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group controls many key cities, including Goma and Bukavu. The rebels have reported two cases.

Uganda and Rwanda have closed their borders, while the Trump administration last week banned entry of non-U.S. passport holders who had recently visited Congo, Uganda or South Sudan.

Border closures and travel bans are “not effective at all” in preventing the spread of the outbreak, Tedros said on Friday.

“Closing borders, as some countries have done, only discourages transparency. The Democratic Republic of Congo is reporting the situation openly and transparently," he said, urging countries to reconsider these measures.

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Banchereau reported from Dakar, Senegal. Associated Press reporter Saleh Mwanamilongo in Bonn, Germany, contributed to this report.

Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, center, arrives in Bunia, Congo, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus washes his hands upon his arrival in Bunia, Congo, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, right, is welcomed at Bunia airport in Bunia, Congo, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, right, is welcomed at Bunia airport in Bunia, Congo, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus arrives at Bunia airport in Bunia, Congo, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

Health workers take meals to Ebola patients at the treatment center in Rwampara, Congo, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

Manza Pantience, left, a midwife at Karibuni wa Mama, supervises health workers who collect patients' samples for Ebola testing at Sofepadi Hospital in Bunia, Congo, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, speaks to the media upon his arrival at N'djili International Airport in Kinshasa, Congo, Thursday, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Samy Ntumba Shambuyi)