Big blow for Arne Slot! John Heitinga set to leave Liverpool assistant post to manage Jordan Henderson at Ajax

Ajax are looking at candidates for their head coach role after Francesco Farioli exited the club following their monumental title race collapse in the 2024-25 campaign, which saw ex-Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson miss out on the second domestic crown of his career. According to Fabrizio Romano, the Dutch giants have zeroed in on former Netherlands international John Heitinga, who is currently serving at Liverpool as Arne Slot's assistant. The report adds that the newly crowned Premier League champions have allowed Heitinga to negotiate a deal with Ajax and have also started looking for the Dutchman's replacement.

Heitinga managed Ajax for six months in the second half of the 2022-23 campaign, where the club finished third in the league and lost to PSV in the KNVB Cup. He then joined David Moyes' coaching staff at West Ham for the 2023-24 season before joining Slot at Anfield last summer.

De Telegraaf had earlier reported that Ajax were eyeing a move for former Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag, but the 55-year-old has now replaced Xabi Alonso as Bayer Leverkusen boss.

The Reds have started to act swiftly in the transfer market as Slot is aiming to make additions to his Premier League-winning squad this summer. They are in advanced talks with Leverkusen over the transfers of Jeremie Frimpong and Florian Wirtz. They are also said to be negotiating terms with Bournemouth to sign Milos Kerkez.