Feyenoord manager Arne Slot has officially signed a new contract with the Dutch champions after ruling himself out of the running for the Tottenham Hotspur job.
The 44-year-old was seen as the leading contender to take over in North London from the 2023-24 campaign as the Lilywhites search for a permanent successor to Antonio Conte.
Feyenoord players were alleged to have been fearful about the prospect of Slot leaving the club for Tottenham, and it was claimed that he would have been open to taking on the job.
However, Slot announced on Thursday morning that he would be staying in Rotterdam, where he was originally under contract until the summer of 2025.
As a result, Tottenham would have had to pay compensation to prise Slot away from his current club this summer, and Feyenoord were supposedly after as much as £10m to let the Dutchman leave.
© Reuters
With Slot's backroom staff also commanding £5m, Tottenham ended their pursuit of the 44-year-old and apparently feel that their interest was used to help him agree a better renewal with Feyenoord.
Slot was also believed to have been on the radar of West Ham United and Crystal Palace, but he has now committed his future to Feyenoord until the end of the 2025-26 season.
"I'm not done here yet. We have had a wonderful season with Feyenoord, with the championship as a wonderful reward for all the hard work that has been put in, but I really want to continue building," Slot told the official Feyenoord website after signing his new deal.
"After the summer, an adventure awaits in the Champions League and there is a national title to defend. Enough to look forward to, so I am proud to be and remain Feyenoord's trainer in Rotterdam."
In a separate press conference, Slot did confirm that he had held discussions with an unnamed foreign team, but he revealed that no club had formally approached Feyenoord over his services.
© Reuters
"I won't name them out of respect for them. Dennis te Kloese [Feyenoord director] deserves credit for everything he's doing for the club, but the only person responsible for staying here is me. I never had an agreement with any club, no club officially reported their interest to Feyenoord," Slot added.
Slot's new Feyenoord contract is yet another blow to Tottenham's pursuit of a new manager to succeed Conte, who has been replaced by Cristian Stellini and Ryan Mason on an interim basis since departing at the end of March.
However, Stellini's reign as acting head coach came to an end after just 29 days in the wake of their embarrassing 6-1 loss to Newcastle United, while Mason has only won one of five matches in charge.
Julian Nagelsmann and Mauricio Pochettino have also been ruled out of the running over the past several weeks, and Spurs are now believed to be turning their attention to the likes of Brendan Rodgers and Celtic's Ange Postecoglou.
The Lilywhites meet Leeds United in Sunday's Premier League final-day battle sitting eighth in the table, one point behind Aston Villa in the race for Europa Conference League football.
