New coach is coming to Liverpool

It’s been a difficult season for Liverpool head coach Arne Slot.

The Dutchman got off to the best possible start to life at Anfield - winning the Premier League title in his first season in charge. And following a £450m transfer splurge last summer much was expected from this group of players.

But the Merseysiders have been embarrassed in both domestic cups as well as being eliminated from the Champions League by Paris Saint-Germain.

At the start of the season the expectation was that the Merseyside outfit would go close to retaining their title. But that hasn’t happened.

Although it looks likely that Slot will qualify his team for the Champions League next season these were not the objectives set out at the start of the campaign.

FSG will stand by Slot

Accordingly it has been speculated that the 47-year-old could lose his job in the off-season. Local reporters have however put paid to those suggestions - remaining steadfast that FSG will fully back their 2024 hire.

Slot is under contract until 2027 and now looks a safe bet to be in charge come 2026/27. In fact reports in the Dutch media now suggest that the former midfielder is preparing to expand his power base.

Having added Ruben Peeters and Sipke Hulshoff to his Liverpool backroom when he first started Slot was frustrated that he could not hire trusted lieutenant Etienne Reijnen.

But now a report in FC Update claims that the head coach will soon be joined at the AXA Training Centre by his former Feyenoord subordinate - who is still working at the Rotterdam club under Robin van Persie.

Arne Slot will soon welcome Etienne Reijnen

“Etienne Reijnen may be on the verge of a move to Liverpool,” the report reads.

“According to Vandaag Inside guest Valentijn Driessen, Arne Slot wants to bring the current Feyenoord assistant coach to England as soon as he has completed his coaching diploma.”

Etienne Reijnen is a former centre-back who moved into coaching and analysis after retiring in 2020, later joining Feyenoord in October 2023 as an assistant coach focused on analysis and technical advice.

He and Arne Slot go back further than Rotterdam: the pair were teammates at PEC Zwolle, and that trust underpins why Slot elevated him from analyst to a central voice in his backroom team.

Within Feyenoord’s staff structure, Reijnen effectively became Slot’s “eyes in the stands”, operating as chief analyst and technical advisor rather than a conventional touchline assistant due to licensing restrictions.

Their relationship is close enough that Slot made Reijnen a priority hire when he agreed to take over at Liverpool, initially planning for him to lead set-piece work and game analysis.

Slot publicly highlighted how much credit Reijnen deserves for Feyenoord’s set-piece strength and overall preparation, stressing that his former colleague remained highly valued when he stayed behind in Rotterdam.

Work-permit and qualification issues ultimately blocked the reunion in England, but the fact Slot pushed hard to bring him to Anfield underlines the depth of their professional trust and alignment on methodology.

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