Liverpool may still have Champions League football to secure on the final day, but one major clue over Arne Slot and his future now appears to have emerged.
With rumours swirling online over the Dutchman’s position, the club’s move for Etienne Reijnen feels like a significant show of faith in a head coach who badly needs a strong summer.
The 39-year-old isn’t a player signing, but if he arrives at Anfield shortly after the season ends, it would still be one of the first important additions of the summer.
Writing for The Telegraph, Dominic King reported: “Liverpool are close to appointing Etienne Reijnen to their coaching team in a move that will remove speculation about Arne Slot’s future.”
Reijnen worked with Robin van Persie at Feyenoord but left his role last Sunday, with the report stating that he has told colleagues he will join his long-standing ally on Merseyside.
That bond goes back a long way, with Slot first meeting the former defender when they played together for PEC Zwolle in 2010, before later adding him to his Feyenoord staff.
The Liverpool boss wanted to bring the coach with him when he replaced Jurgen Klopp in 2024, but that move collapsed due to work permit issues.
Slot has now spoken about the situation and, although the 47-year-old refused to confirm anything outright, his admiration was obvious.
He said: “Well, it is fair to say that I have worked with him before. And I have a very high regard for him in terms of the coach he is.”
This matters because it comes after a season in which patience with Slot has clearly been tested.
David Lynch has already warned that if Liverpool stick with the Dutchman, they can leave him no excuses, while Robin van Persie previously described Reijnen as “a fantastic person” who fulfils his role very well.
Reijnen is regarded as having set-piece expertise, and that could be an area where we need genuine improvement after too many flat performances this season.
If Liverpool are preparing to reshape Slot’s staff, rather than replace him, then the message from inside the club seems clear enough.
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