Slot’s assistant ‘makes decision on his future after interest from EFL club’

Arne Slot's Liverpool assistant has made a decision on his future after interest in his services at a Championship club, a report has revealed.

Slot has taken to Anfield like a duck to water since he was appointed as Jürgen Klopp's successor last summer. He won fourteen of his eighteen Premier League games and lost only one.

His side are five points clear of Arsenal at the top of the Premier League but have played two fewer games than the Gunners, who draw against Brighton on Saturday. They also have a perfect record in the Champions League.

Few expected the Dutchman could have the impact he has had on Merseyside, but he has also been joined by a man familiar with the city to help him acclimatise.

That man is former Everton defender John Heitinga, who played more than a hundred times for the Toffees between 2009 and 2014. He has been working as Slot's assistant since the start of the season, but there is interest in his services.

West Brom are said to have inquired about appointing the 41-year-old as their new manager after Carlos Corberan left for Valencia last month.

However, The Mirror reports that Heitinga has decided to stay at Liverpool despite the interest.

Rob Jansen, Heitinga's agent, said: 'John will definitely stay at Liverpool this season.'

Heitinga, who also played for Fulham in the Premier League, worked alongside David Moyes at West Ham last season but left the club when the Scot departed at the end of the season.

He had a brief spell in charge of Ajax in 2023, having also coached in the club's academy after ending his career in his home country of the Netherlands.

Ajax is also where he started his playing career, before a spell at Atletico Madrid and then moving to England with Everton.

Slot said of his assistant upon his appointment: 'John Heitinga has been here with me for the first half of the season and I couldn't have asked for more. A very, when I say talented I don't rate him highly enough because he is more than that.

'He has been a head coach before, he is still young, but he has grown into our staff well from the start and has the same idea about football. That's why I chose him.'

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