Former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson has indicated that he would welcome Pep Lijnders to Ajax with the Anfield assistant coach following Jurgen Klopp out of the Premier League giants.
Klopp is not the only key figure set to bid farewell to life on Merseyside.
Pep Lijnders, the German’s right-hand man is departing too, alongside sporting director Jorg Schmadtke and elite development coach Vitor Matos.
HITC Football understands that Lijnders is keen to try his hand in management again after an ill-fated spell in the Eredivisie with NEC Nijmegen back in 2018. That remains his only sole coaching role to date.
Ajax, however, are ready to offer the 41-year-old Dutchman the chance to show how much he has learned in the last six years, having opened talks over a deal that would see Lijnders take over at the embattled Amsterdam outfit – who signed ex-Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson a few weeks ago – in the summer.
Liverpool coach could join Jordan Henderson at Ajax
“John (van’t Schip, Ajax’s interim boss) has done well since he came here. He came to help because the club was in a difficult situation and I think he did a great job,” Henderson tells NOS.
“I don’t know what will happen after the summer. More coaches will be linked to the club. That’s normal. That’s football.
“I have worked with Pepijn for a long time. He is a fantastic coach and a fantastic person. He has already said he is leaving, I don’t know what he wants to do next. But he is a really good coach. He loves the game.
“But what happens at Ajax is up to the board. I am not concerned about that.”
Eredivisie giants keen to hire Pep Lijnders
Lijnders has worked at Liverpool for a decade across two spells. The one-time FC Porto assistant has accumulated no fewer than eight trophies along the way, with the latest arriving in last week’s EFL Cup final victory over Chelsea at Wembley.
HITC, meanwhile, understands that Liverpool are ‘quietly confident’ of luring Xabi Alonso back to Anfield from Bayer Leverkusen. Bayern Munich are also big admirers of the Spaniard.
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