Pepijn Lijnders is “under consideration” for the top job at Ajax having already ruled himself out of the race to be Jurgen Klopp‘s successor at Anfield.
“I’m excited to manage, I’m excited to go, to find the right club who really wants [me],” Lijnders recently explained of his future in the wake of Klopp’s departure news.
The 41-year-old has been linked to Ajax for some time now, bizarrely rumoured to another assistant role, but that was never to be on the cards.
And now, as per the likes of the Times‘ Paul Joyce and the Telegraph‘s Chris Bascombe, Lijnders is a “contender” for the vacant Ajax job.
The Dutch club currently have John van’t Schip as their interim manager, who was appointed in October, and are in a transitional period as they sit 31 points off leaders PSV.
And Ajax clearly value Lijnders’ opinion, having reportedly consulted the Dutchman over the signing of Jordan Henderson in January, meaning a reunion could be on the cards in Amsterdam.
The former Liverpool captain has played nine games for Ajax to date and has worn the captain’s armband in six of them – though he has not escaped criticism during a bad run of results.
Lijnders has taken one senior management role in the past, with NEC Nijmegen in 2018, but it lasted less than five months after failing to secure promotion to the Eredivisie.
He has since established himself as Klopp’s right-hand man and has been loyal to seeing out the project alongside the German – he previously revealed he has rejected several job opportunities over the years.
The Ajax job would be a big one for Lijnders to take on as expectations will be incredibly high, but he has been insistent that his choice will be swayed by the club that “really wants” him.
It is a decision he will make alongside his family as well as Vitor Matos, Liverpool’s elite development coach, who is expected to be named Lijnders’ assistant when the time comes.
Lijnders said back in February: “In a few months time I will sit down with my manager, now is not the time, but then I will see what kind of options I have, which club really wants [me].
“And in that moment, I will make a decision that is for me good, hopefully for Vitor what is good and hopefully for my family.”
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