Arne Slot’s former assistant is back in the Premier League and now working with Liverpool nemesis | OneFootball

A former assistant coach of Liverpool is now back in the Premier League just eight months after leaving Anfield.

A few weeks after taking charge of the Reds, Arne Slot appointed John Heitinga to his backroom staff, with the latter haivng previously worked under David Moyes at West Ham.

The ex-Everton defender was part of the coaching ticket which secured domestic glory last season before he left at the end of May to take the head coach job at Ajax, where he lasted just five months before being sacked.

Slot’s former assistant at Liverpool is now back in the Premier League and has linked up with a London club once more.

Heitinga joins Spurs coaching staff

On Thursday afternoon, Tottenham Hotspur confirmed on their official website that Heitinga has joined them as first-team assistant coach under Thomas Frank, who declared that the 42-year-old will be tasked primarily with defensive work in N17.

The Spurs boss said: “As a former defender, that will be one of his main responsibilities on the training pitch, and he brings great coaching and management experiences from all levels of the game, which will really help us moving forward.”

(Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)

Heitinga appointment adds spice to Liverpool v Spurs in March

Despite Slot indicating last May that he wanted Heitinga to remain at Liverpool for this season (The Times), the ex-Everton defender’s return to the Premier League hasn’t been to the Reds.

Instead, he’s gone to Spurs, and while we don’t have any major rivalry with the north London club (nor are they direct positional rivals at present), it’s a career choice which might nonetheless sting for some Kopites.

For one thing, he’ll now be working with a certain Richarlison, who it’s fair to say has a bit of a chequered history when it comes to LFC, and this appointment might add a bit of spice to the visit of Frank’s side to Anfield in mid-March.

Heitinga will feel that he has a point to prove after his brief and happy spell in charge of Ajax, and the fact that he’s joined Spurs would seemingly hint that the club aren’t preparing to dispense with their head coach, despite suggestions of a potential sacking in recent days.

One can only wonder how Slot will feel privately at seeing his former right-hand man team up with a Premier League rival.

You can watch Slot’s full post-Barnsley press conference below, via Empire of the Kop on YouTube: