Liverpool have announced notable changes to their goalkeeping department with a familiar face returning as Fabian Otte and Claudio Taffarel depart.
A year into Arne Slot‘s reign, the club are undergoing further significant changes on and off the pitch with new signings and staff members ahead of the 2025/26 season.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst has been named as Slot’s assistant after the departure of John Heitinga, but it was the announcement of changes in the goalkeeping department that caught the eye.
Otte, who only joined the club last summer as the head of goalkeeping, departs as too Taffarel, who was initially recommended to the club by Alisson in 2021.
Xavi Valero now returns as the new head of first-team goalkeeping coaching after first working under Rafa Benitez at Liverpool in 2007 – he has spent the last seven years at West Ham.
Prior to that, he stuck close to Benitez during his time at Inter, Chelsea, Napoli and Real Madrid.
Fabian Otte and Claudio Taffarel leave Liverpool
Xavi Valero appointed as head of first-team goalkeeping coaching
Giovanni van Bronckhorst named assistant coach
Taffarel’s exit is significant with the Brazilian legend having worked closely with Alisson, and the club’s statement reads that he “calls time on an association with Liverpool” – suggesting it was his decision.
While he typically worked with Alisson, Taffarel’s remit also included the integration of academy goalkeepers, and he often remained on Merseyside when the first team travelled to train those not involved.
He has held a role with the Brazil national team for much of his time on Merseyside and is now part of Carlo Ancelotti’s backroom staff.
It is an unexpected shake-up that supporters will hope has no bearing on Alisson‘s future after former head of goalkeeping John Achterberg hinted he would have left if Taffarel had last year.
“They were smart to at least keep Taffarel, because if they would also change Taffarel, they probably would have told Ali to find a new club basically,” Achterberg told The Football Historian Podcast.
The turnover in the goalkeeping department is significant with Achterberg, Jack Robinson, Otte and Taffarel having all departed in a little over a year, not to mention the changes in playing personnel.
Alisson will now be joined this season by Giorgi Mamardashvili and third-choice Freddie Woodman after Caoimhin Kelleher left for Brentford and Vitezslav Jaros spends the season on loan at Ajax.
