Tottenham’s double failure laid bare as Arne Slot opens up on rejected move

Arne Slot has hinted that Tottenham’s failure to qualify for the Champions League was a reason behind him rejecting a move to North London.

The Dutchman was one of Spurs’ prime targets for their vacant managerial role. The North London club have been on the hunt for a new boss since sacking Antonio Conte back in March.

Cristian Stellini and Ryan Mason had interim stints in charge during the closing weeks of the campaign, decisions that did not appear to work as Spurs fell out of European contention. Slot looked to be the man to take the reins but he rejected a move before signing a new deal with Feyenoord.

He has now broken his silence over why he rejected Spurs and suggested that playing in Europe’s premier competition was decisive. Speaking to The Athletic, he said: “We are going to play in the Champions League, which I’ve never done before as a player and as a coach. The club is in a real good place.

“And I want to work longer on the project to see what comes from that, because you can every time leave somewhere after one or two successful seasons but, in the end, where and what are you then? So sometimes you also have to cherish what you have.

“There’s more to life and to football than only winning a prize. It is also the way you work. It’s not always that you come into the place where you can work like we can here and be happy, professional-wise but also family-wise.”

Spurs were in the hunt for a Champions League place until the closing weeks of the season. They occupied fourth spot in the table until early April but five defeats in their final nine games of the campaign saw them miss out on even a place in the Europa Conference League.

Feyenoord’s chief executive Dennis te Kloese – who also chose to reject a move to North London – has doubled down on Slot’s claim that Champions League football played a role in him turning down Spurs.

He said: “Circumstances also played a role. Family circumstances, but also Feyenoord are in the Champions League. After the celebrations when we won the title — the scenes last week at the city hall, how many people turned up — the emotion poured into it, you get a feeling this is a real big club. If you take everything into account, you recognise what you have here is not so bad.

“With a nice contract, with a supportive staff, people who all have best interests for the club in mind — then to convince somebody to step out of that is not an easy thing.

“And I think at some point, probably when everything settled down, he also made up his mind that by doing well here, hopefully (doing well) next year also would open doors.”