John Heitinga could unlock $44m Liverpool star who left Jurgen Klopp tearing his hair out

Arne Slot’s team continues to grow, with John Heitinga the latest name added to his backroom staff at Liverpool .

The former Everton defender joins as an assistant coach , having most recently worked under David Moyes at West Ham. He follows Sipke Hulshoff, Ruben Peeters, Aaron Briggs and Fabian Otte in forming the new-look coaching setup at Anfield .

Since retiring from playing in 2016, Heitinga has been building up his coaching experience, spending a long time coaching at Ajax’s academy where played a big part in the success enjoyed by Erik ten Hag, having helped bring through some of the stars that made their name under the now-Manchester United boss.

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Among those he oversaw the development of was Ryan Gravenberch . The midfielder emerged as one of the Amsterdam club’s biggest talents, winning award after award as he worked his way up to the first team – in 2021, Heitinga presented Gravenberch with the Johan Cruyff Award for talent of the year in the Eredivisie.

Gravenberch though has found life away from Ajax a little more difficult since leaving the club in 2022. His opportunities at Bayern Munich were rare, leading to him making the $44m (£33m/€40m) move to Liverpool after just a year in Germany.

The 22-year-old didn’t quite hit the ground running on Merseyside either. There were some promising signs, particularly early on in the Europa League , but Gravenberch has found himself down the pecking order in midfielder for much of his time at Anfield so far.

In fact, his performances at times left Jurgen Klopp infuriated . The former Liverpool boss was seen berating the Netherlands international during the 3-1 defeat to Arsenal back in February, having been left unhappy with his efforts in the build-up to Bukayo Saka’s opening goal.

After a summer in which Gravenberch traveled to Germany for Euro 2024 but failed to make any appearances for Ronald Koeman’s side, it would be fair to say he is in need of a lift when he reports back for training with Liverpool.

Heitinga might just be the man to help him rediscover the sort of form that led to him being linked with the world’s best sides while he was still emerging as a youngster. He can do that by restoring what it was that brought Gravenberch to everyone's attention.

“I know how I want my team to play," Heitinga said in an interview with The Athletic in 2020. "It’s the Ajax DNA with the fighting spirit."