Heitinga leaves Liverpool to take charge of Ajax as Reds eye new assistant boss

John Heitinga has worked under Arne Slot for the last year at Liverpool and was an important part of the coaching staff as the team won the Premier League title - but now he has been poached by boyhood club Ajax

Liverpool assistant coach John Heitinga has left Anfield to become Ajax's new boss, after just one season working under Arne Slot. The former Everton defender was a key part of Slot's staff that helped the coach win the Premier League in his first season and is highly rated as a coach.

He has previously been linked to other coaching roles and was a target for West Brom after the exit of Carlos Corberan in December, before the Baggies opted to hire Tony Mowbray - who was sacked after just three months.

Now Heitinga has now landed a much more high profile job with his boyhood club Ajax, who were looking for a new coach after Francesco Farioli decided to leave his post following just one season in charge.

Heitinga started his coaching career with Ajax's youth teams in 2021 before a short spell as interim manager of the first team in 2023. He later developed his skills as assistant to David Moyes at West Ham before linking up with Slot last summer.

In a statement, Heitinga said: "I am incredibly excited to start. The last years in England have done me a lot of good. I've been able to develop further alongside David Moyes and Arne Slot, while also getting a behind-the-scenes look at two major clubs.

"I'm ready to continue as a head coach and I'm honoured to be given that opportunity at Ajax."

Ajax hailed Heitinga's ability after his appointment and said his "drive" and ambitions as a manger were what drew them to him.

Club chief Alex Kroes said: "John is a good coach with enormous drive. He is ambitious and has further developed himself over the past few years in the Premier League and the Champions League.

"[Sporting director] Marijn Beuker and I spoke to him last year and have stayed in contact since."

Heitinga's primary goal will be to restore the Eredivisie title to Ajax after a three season drought.

The Amsterdam outfit looked like they were finally going to break that run after going nine points clear with seven points to go - before surrendering their lead to PSV, who pipped them by one point on the final day.

Heitinga managed Liverpool for two games this season after Slot and assistant manager Sipke Hulschoff were banned, overseeing a 2-0 win over Newcastle and a 3-1 win against Southampton.