Leeds tried earlier in the month to get Slot to be their new manager, but they were ultimately unsuccessful in doing so and remain without a permanent boss still.
Slot was top of the Eredivisie table with Feyenoord, and he still is, and to go to Leeds would have swapped a title challenge for a relegation fight.
Newsome does not know whether it was naivety or arrogance that fuelled Leeds to chase managers already in their jobs, especially Slot.
The ex-Leeds star thinks it was a big ask to entice Slot come away from Feyenoord to join Leeds in a relegation battle, when he could be on course to guide the Dutch team to the title.
Speaking on BBC Radio Leeds, Newsome said: “I don’t know whether it’s possibly naivety or whether it’s a touch of arrogance, you know what we’re going to sack our manager, we’ve got a list of managers who are all in work and we’ll go and get one of those.
“I don’t know whether that’s naivety or arrogance but it’s not that easy to go and get a manager out of a football club if that football club has a) got a decent contract that surrounds the manager and puts the football club in charge and b) you’ve got to then entice the manager.
“Like Arne Slot, he is top of the league with Feyenoord.
“It’s a really, really big ask to ask, you want to walk away from them halfway through the season and not see out, maybe win a title and come to Leeds United who are fighting relegation.”
Apart from Slot, Leeds were also pursuing Andoni Iraola, who is trying to get Rayo Vallecano into Europe next season and has a shot at guiding them to the Champions League.
