Liverpool are closing in on the appointment of Etiënne Reijnen to Arne Slot’s coaching staff, a move that would underline the club’s continuing backing for the manager as he heads into a pivotal summer. The deal to reunite Slot with the Feyenoord assistant is not yet complete, but it is moving forward.
Slot wanted Reijnen, 39, at Anfield when he was first appointed and the pair’s working relationship goes back to 2023 at Feyenoord, with earlier plans blocked by work permit issues. The assistant is now being lined up again as Liverpool look to strengthen their backroom team while they continue to chase a top-five finish and Champions League qualification.
That pursuit matters because Slot has made clear the competition is central to what comes next. With Liverpool still needing results to seal their place in Europe’s top tournament, the manager said the club needs the strongest possible base going into next season and that Champions League football would make that base more solid.
Reijnen’s possible arrival has also drawn a public response from Feyenoord technical director Dennis te Kloese, who described him as a very talented young coach and suggested he was not moving abroad for no reason. Slot, meanwhile, refused to be drawn into the discussion before anything was finalized, saying he would not comment on players or staff until deals were done.
He has, though, been open about his regard for Reijnen. Slot said he had worked with him before, held him in very high regard as a coach and had already tried to bring him to Liverpool two years ago, only for the move to fall through. This time, the process has advanced further, and Liverpool’s willingness to keep pushing the deal says as much about Slot’s influence as it does about Reijnen’s reputation.
The timing adds another layer. Sunday’s home finale against Brentford will bring farewells for Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson at Anfield, while the crowd is still digesting the fallout from last week’s criticism of Liverpool’s style of play and the social media post Salah made that several first-team players liked. In that atmosphere, backing Slot with a staff addition he has wanted from the start looks like a deliberate statement rather than a routine piece of summer business.
Liverpool have not sealed Champions League qualification yet, so the cleanest reading is that the club wants stability around Slot before the next campaign begins. If the Reijnen deal is completed, it will be another sign that Liverpool intend to build around the manager’s methods rather than second-guess them after one season in charge.
