One player who’s reportedly a prime target for Liverpool in 2025 has hailed Arne Slot as ‘the best coach in the world’.
Earlier this month, Football Insider claimed that Benfica midfielder Orkun Kokcu would be interested in reuining with his former Feyenoord boss at Anfield, with the 46-year-old believed to have instructed Richard Hughes to do everything in their power to sign the Turkiye international in January.
Kokcu’s huge praise for Slot
As per the print edition of Portuguese outlet Record, the appreciation between player and coach is very much mutual, judging by comments that the 23-year-old has now made.
Kokcu said of Slot: “He made me the player I am today. He is the best coach in the world.”
The same outlet had recently claimed that the midfielder is valued at €80m (£66.9m) by Benfica and has an eye-watering exit clause of €150m (£125.5m) at the Estadio da Luz.
Will Liverpool spend big to reunite Slot and Kokcu?
Kokcu played 96 times under Slot at Feyenoord, with 21 goals and 14 assists in that time as he helped them to win the Eredivisie title in 2023 (Transfermarkt), and it was his performances in Rotterdam which earned him a move to the Lisbon giants.
Jurgen Klopp eschewed any possible temptation to reunite with his former Mainz and Borussia Dortmund players when he was Liverpool manager, but could the current Reds boss take a different approach at Anfield?
The Turkish midfielder has scored four times in 15 appearances for Benfica so far this season, including two goals in the Champions League, and he boasts some of the best underlying performance metrics among positional peers in Europe.
As per FBref, he ranks among the top 1% of midfielders outside the continent’s five main leagues for assists (0.45) and non-penalty goals (0.32) per 90 minutes, along with the top 2% for shots (2.53) and non-penalty xG (0.2) per game and the top 3% for shot-creating actions (4.7) per match.
Liverpool would understandably need to pay a premium if they’re to persuade the Lisbon club to sell Kokcu in 2025, but the 23-year-old’s declaration about Slot might just be interpreted as a charm offensive among the Merseyside hierarchy. It should be interesting to see if there’s a reunion between the pair over the coming months.
