Arne Slot‘s coaching staff continues to take shape, with news of a new appointment to replace the departed Vitor Matos, while another addition has been mooted.
The new Liverpool head coach announced three new staff members upon his official unveiling, with Sipke Hulshoff (assistant coach), Ruben Peeters (head of fitness) and Fabian Otte (goalkeeping coach) moving to Merseyside.
In his first press conference, Slot then revealed two more coaches were to be announced “soon” – and it appears as though the dominos are falling.
The Mail‘s Lewis Steele has now reported that Man City‘s former first-team performance analyst, Aaron Briggs, is to join the club as the new elite development coach.
It is a title last held by Vitor Matos and was an important one that bridged the academy with the first team, and we all saw how successful that proved to be.
Briggs has previously worked at Preston, Tottenham, City, Monaco, Wolfsburg and has even operated as a consultant for FIFA – vast experience at academy and first-team level despite still being only 37.
James Pearce writes for The Athletic that Briggs “had been pursued by a number of Premier League clubs this summer.”
His appointment has been led by sporting director Richard Hughes and FSG’s CEO of football, Michael Edwards.
It is welcome news that Matos has been directly replaced as it is a nod to the new management’s intention to continue the same pathway for youngsters.
As for the prospects for another first-team coach, former Everton defender Johnny Heitinga is said to be one of a number of candidates “under consideration.”
Heitinga played 140 times for Everton and most recently worked at West Ham with David Moyes until this summer. He also took the reigns at Ajax for the end of the 2022/23 season, stepping up from their academy setup.
Heitinga has confirmed the talks, saying: “All I can say now is that I have been approached and that my agent Rob Jansen and I are in conversation.”
The search for a new set-piece is still ongoing, but this is a positive update as Liverpool address the vast vacancies that were left this summer.
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