Liverpool assistant manager Pep Lijnders reportedly has his next role in his sights as he prepares for his final three months at Anfield.
Lijnders will be leaving the Reds alongside Jurgen Klopp at the end of the season, bringing his second stint at the club to a close after assisting both Brendan Rodgers and Klopp since his initial arrival in 2014. During this time he has won each of English football’s major trophies, plus a Champions League and FIFA Club World Cup.
But while Klopp plans to take a break from the game, talkSPORT reports that Lijnders is in talks to become Ajax’s next manager.
The four-time European champions are currently enduring one of their worst-ever Eredivisie campaigns, sitting fifth in the table, 29 points behind leaders PSV. Manager Maurice Steign was sacked in October, with his interim replacement John van ’t Schip set to depart in the summer.
Should Lijnders land the role at Ajax it will be his second taste of first-team management, having been in charge of NEC for six months in 2018. He would return to his role at Liverpool following his failure to guide the Nijmegen-based side to promotion.
The 41-year-old would be reunited with former Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson if he lands the Ajax job and would arrive with the endorsement of Klopp, who believes the time is right for Lijnders to step up.
“Pep especially is ready – ready to manage a football team and he wants to do that as well, so that’s great, together with Vitor,” said the German.
“If you change, change properly. And they are ready for the future and I’m really happy about that. The most influential guy in the last years definitely in this club was Pep Lijnders. The job he did is absolutely exceptional. The inspiration he is for me is absolutely exceptional.
“The relationship we grew is absolutely exceptional. Outstanding, everything. And I’m really looking forward to follow his way and to support if necessary. And if I can, I will definitely do.”
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