Liverpool assistant 'under consideration' to take charge of top European club
- Pep Lijnders will leave Liverpool at the same time as Jurgen Klopp
- Assistant coach set to become a manager in his own right
- 41-year-old is not in the conversation to take over at Anfield
Liverpool assistant manager Pep Lijnders is "under consideration" to become the new permanent Ajax boss as he prepares to branch out on his own when Jurgen Klopp leaves Anfield.
Lijnders has been on the Liverpool staff for the best part of the last ten years, briefly leaving for the first six months of 2018 for a short-lived spell in charge of Dutch club NEC Nijmegen. Since returning to Anfield, the 41-year-old has been a crucial part of the setup that has delivered Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup trophies.
Ready to move back into management six years on from Nijmegen, The Times writes that Lijnders has emerged as an contender for Ajax as they weigh up their options. John van 't Schip is currently in charge on an interim basis until the end of the season after replacing Maurice Steijn in October.
Lijnders was in contact with Ajax in January when he was consulted over the club's signing of former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson. Whatever job he gets, he is expected to take elite development coach Vitor Matos with him as the Portuguese is also set to leave Anfield when Klopp does.
Liverpool are famed for the historic 'Boot Room', which saw numerous managers from the 1960s through to the 1990s promoted into the top job after cutting their teeth on the coaching staff. But Lijnders hasn't really been in the conversation when it comes to replacing Klopp.
The Dutchman effectively ruled himself out of it, suggesting more than once he is looking forward to starting afresh somewhere as he challenges himself as a manager. Staying behind after Klopp had gone to assist the transition at Anfield wasn't an option for him either.
"I always said I will finish with Jurgen; the moment I will not assist anyone else, that’s the moment I will go and I will manage," Lijnders commented last month.
Waxing lyrical about his number two, Klopp said: "Pep especially is ready...ready to manage a football team and he wants to do that as well, so that's great, together with Vitor. If you change, change properly. And they are ready for the future and I'm really happy about that."
90min understands that Xabi Alonso, Roberto De Zerbi, Julian Nagelsmann and Ange Postecoglou are under serious consideration by Liverpool to replace Klopp. Ruben Amorim is admired but there is hesitance over his lack of elite experience, with Unai Emery and Roger Schmidt also discussed.
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