Arne Slot admits where Liverpool's focus now lies with champions 'on the beach'

Arne Slot has admitted his focus is now on next season after were accused of being 'on the beach'. The Reds wrapped up the title with four games to go in Slot's first season as boss.

The Dutchman replaced the legendary as manager last summer. Despite the club not making a major signing either ahead of the season or in January, the Reds have romped to the title.

They still have two games of the season to play, though are 15 points ahead of second-place . As a reward for their success this term, boss Slot granted his side a few days off last week, with the squad flying out to Dubai.

That trip attracted some criticism around where Liverpool's focus was, with European qualification still at stake for a number of teams. They face on Monday, with the Seagulls firmly in the battle to secure a position high enough to secure continental competition next term.

And boss Slot has now made it clear he is already looking towards their title defence. Liverpool have been heavily linked with a move for Bayer Leverkusen's Jeremie Frimpong and Slot has conceded that transfers are beginning to take up the majority of his time.

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“It’s going to be a boring answer. We don’t talk about players we want to bring in in public until the moment they sign,” Slot said of Frimpong. “Did you see me this week on social media?

“But even if you are celebrating over there, it doesn’t mean the whole day you aren’t thinking about something else. But a larger part of my mind now is already into next season, than it would have been had the next two games still been decisive for us.

"It’s a normal situation that my thoughts, if I’m on the couch tonight, are more into next season than they would have been if the games were still very important.”

Slot defended the decision to grant his players time off, despite the inevitable backlash. He insisted that there were plenty of positives for allowing his troops to decompress away from Merseyside.

"That's the nice part of your jobs, if we win it you will tell me this. If we lose it, we will get the blame for a few days off and our head was somewhere else. This is all the nice parts of your job," he added.

"For me, away is one of the most difficult away games in the season. Brighton away, I do you think you know what Arsenal did there, what [Manchester] City did there. So if we are not able to get a result over there, for me that has nothing to do with players enjoying a few days off.

"What we know is, we felt that this was a good way of preparing ourselves for the game for Monday, because the boys deserved a few days off. It's been a very long season for us. We think three days' lead-up towards the game on Monday is more than enough time to be physically well-prepared.

"If we are mentally prepared for a very difficult game against a team that can play really well, that is something that has nothing to do with us being somewhere else or over here. But that does maybe have something to do with that for us, apart from winning a game of football, there's nothing else at stake."

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