Liverpool assistant John Heitinga is expected to take over as Ajax head coach in the coming days, but Arne Slot has already advised him to stay at Anfield.
Heitinga has emerged as Ajax’s priority candidate for the lead role following Francesco Farioli’s exit and Erik ten Hag’s decision to join Bayer Leverkusen.
Talks are underway with the 41-year-old with permission from Liverpool, who would reluctantly allow him to leave less than a year after his appointment.
Though a fellow Dutchman with considerable coaching pedigree following spells with Ajax and West Ham, Heitinga was something of a surprise addition to Slot’s backroom staff.
But having proved a major success as part of a team which helped inspired Liverpool to the Premier League title, the head coach is unsurprisingly eager for him to stay.
“If Ajax would be smart, they would consider him. He is ready to take on a job like that,” Slot told reporters including the Times‘ Paul Joyce last week.
“If John is smart, he would stay one more season.”
This is not even the first time since Heitinga’s arrival at Liverpool that he has been courted by another club, with West Brom considering an offer for him to take charge in December.
Around that time Slot referenced his assistant’s previous interim spell in the Ajax dugout, which saw him impress only to then leave at the end of the season following a disagreement with sporting director Sven Mislintat.
“That Sven Mislintat did not choose Heitinga as head coach at the time – and that he left Ajax for that reason – Liverpool is now profiting from that,” he told Algemeen Dagblad.
“Apparently they did not realise in Amsterdam that they had an excellent coach in-house.”
Those at Ajax, who no longer have Mislintat in their hierarchy, clearly feel that way now – and their resolve will have been strengthened by how Heitinga took to filling in for Slot during his two-match suspension this season.
Before his No. 3 stepped into his shoes for the 2-1 win away to Southampton in the Carabao Cup, Slot said of Heitinga: “I couldn’t have wished for more.
“If I say talented, I don’t even rate him high enough because he’s more than that already. He’s been a head coach himself, but he’s still young.
“[He] grew into our staff from the start in a very good manner, so has the same idea about football. That’s also why I chose him to come to us as well.
“But the way he is with the boys, just like Sipke [Hulshoff] is, [is] very positive.”
