Second key Liverpool figure ACCEPTS Man City offer

Once you've become associated with Liverpool it's difficult to understand how a move anywhere else could be enticing. With the Reds, you've already reached the pinnacle of English football.

Just like with former players, it matters where you move to. Football tribalism is deep rooted.

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Take former manager Jurgen Klopp. If the German took charge of any other football club in England, then it would create mass upset within the fanbase. His legacy would in-turn be tarnished.

Pep Lijnders' move to Pep Guardiola's Manchester City elicited an uncomfortable feeling among the fans, as you would expect. During his leaving interview with Liverpool in February 2024, he said he would not become an assistant anywhere else, yet here we are 15 months later.

While the fans are less aware of the staff in the background such as the executives or the recruitment staff, a move to a rival is seen as a blow, and the Citizens seem to have got another one over on us.

The makeup of City's backroom staff is looking increasingly Red

It will not just be Pep Lijnders joining the dugout at the Etihad next season, as The Athletic are reporting that analyst James French will also be making the move this summer.

His main focus is on set-piece coaching and team analysis, and after thirteen years of work on Merseyside, he has decided to contribute to a new challenge elsewhere.

Prior to joining the Reds, French was a performance analyst intern at Swansea and then he subsequently worked with the Wales National Team before catching his big break with Liverpool.

While the Reds will still have a wealth of experience in the analysis department, French's departure will be a notable loss and knowing he will be joining City is a particularly bitter pill to swallow.

Liverpool's rivalry with City has been ongoing since French joined, as the club came unstuck in the 2013/24 title race under Brendan Rodgers' leadership.

Then under Klopp, we had the nail-biting title races of 2018/19 and 2021/22 which were both decided by just one point.

This season's Premier League win under Arne Slot came without Guardiola's side putting up a challenge, but both teams' work in the transfer market so far suggests that we'll see an enticing battle between the two clubs once again next season.

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In isolation, French's move isn't particularly significant, but on top of Lijnders' move, the two departures are concerning, although Liverpool will prepare themselves accordingly for next season.

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