Liverpool confirms John Heitinga appointment as Arne Slot adds former Everton star to staff

Liverpool has confirmed the appointment of John Heitinga to Arne Slot’s staff as an assistant coach ahead of the new season.

The former Everton defender makes the move to Anfield having most recently worked as first-team assistant coach to David Moyes at West Ham. Before that, he made his name as a center-back, winning 87 caps for the Netherlands and turning out for the likes of Ajax and Atletico Madrid as well as the Toffees.

He made his move into coaching after retiring from playing in 2016 and worked in Ajax’s youth setup. He was handed the reins of the senior side in January 2023, and took charge until June that year.

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Heitinga becomes the latest addition to Slot’s backroom team. Sipke Hulshoff and Ruben Peeters both followed the new Reds head coach from Feyenoord to work as his assistant and lead physical performance coach respectively.

Aaron Briggs has also joined the club as first-team individual development coach, while Fabian Otte has been appointed as the new goalkeeping coach.

Heitinga had dropped hints at joining Liverpool in recent weeks . Describing his coaching style in an interview with The Athletic in 2020, he said: "For me, it’s simple: it’s two lots of 45 minutes and for those minutes it’s war. It’s all about winning. Whatever I need to do to win… cheat… I’ll do it."

Liverpool.com says: Another addition to the coaching staff for Slot means the backroom team is looking more and more prepared for the new era. We are of course still waiting for all of the players to return to training following a busy international summer, and it would certainly be nice to see some new signings arriving soon, but Slot and his team can make calls on that in due time.