Liverpool assistant John Heitinga is anticipated to take over as Ajax head coach within the coming days, however Arne Slot has already suggested him to remain at Anfield.
Heitinga has emerged as Ajax’s precedence candidate for the lead function following Francesco Farioli’s exit and Erik ten Hag’s resolution to hitch Bayer Leverkusen.
Talks are underway with the 41-year-old with permission from Liverpool, who would reluctantly permit him to depart lower than a 12 months after his appointment.
Although a fellow Dutchman with appreciable teaching pedigree following spells with Ajax and West Ham, Heitinga was one thing of a shock addition to Slot’s backroom employees.
However having proved a significant success as a part of a workforce which helped impressed Liverpool to the Premier League title, the top coach is unsurprisingly anticipating him to remain.
“If Ajax can be sensible, they’d contemplate him. He is able to tackle a job like that,” Slot advised reporters together with the Instances‘ Paul Joyce final week.
“If John is wise, he would keep another season.”
This isn’t even the primary time since Heitinga’s arrival at Liverpool that he has been courted by one other membership, with West Brom contemplating a proposal for him to take cost in December.
Round that point Slot referenced his assistant’s earlier interim spell within the Ajax dugout, which noticed him impress solely to then go away on the finish of the season following a disagreement with sporting director Sven Mislintat.
“That Sven Mislintat didn’t select Heitinga as head coach on the time – and that he left Ajax for that purpose – Liverpool is now taking advantage of that,” he advised Algemeen Dagblad.
“Apparently they didn’t realise in Amsterdam that that they had a superb coach in-house.”
These at Ajax, who not have Mislintat of their hierarchy, clearly really feel that method now – and their resolve may have been strengthened by how Heitinga took to filling in for Slot throughout his two-match suspension this season.
Earlier than his No. 3 stepped into his footwear for the 2-1 win away to Southampton within the Carabao Cup, Slot mentioned of Heitinga: “I couldn’t have wished for extra.
“If I say gifted, I don’t even price him excessive sufficient as a result of he’s greater than that already. He’s been a head coach himself, however he’s nonetheless younger.
“[He] grew into our employees from the beginning in an excellent method, so has the identical thought about soccer. That’s additionally why I selected him to return to us as nicely.
“However the best way he’s with the boys, similar to Sipke [Hulshoff] is, [is] very constructive.”
