Ajax director of football Marijn Beuker is ‘in close contact’ with Liverpool assistant manager Pepijn Lijnders as he gears up to leave Anfield in the summer.
That’s according to journalist Valentijn Driessen who, alongside fellow journalist Mike Verweij, has hinted he could be on the move to Ajax alongside Frank de Boer.
Lijnders is set to leave Liverpool at the end of the season alongside Jurgen Klopp, with the Dutchman also deciding to step away and potentially move into management himself.
The 41-year-old has been at Liverpool since 2018 after an earlier three-year spell as assistant manager from 2015 to 2018, which came to an end when he left to be manager of NEC Nijmegen, which lasted 22 games.
All indications have been that he is keen to move back into management this summer and thus has decided to depart Anfield at the same as Klopp to pursue that.
One option could be Ajax, who seem set to look for a new permanent manager at the end of the season and not persist with interim boss John van ‘t Schip.
However, according to the two directors, the actual deal could see Lijnders making the move to support De Boer instead, with Driessen reporting that Ajax DoF Marijn Beuker is ‘in close contact’ with the Liverpool assistant.
“Lijnders has been with Klopp for years, so why couldn’t that work?” said Verweij.
“That is not yet widely reported, but what you really feel is that a lot of people within Ajax believe that Frank de Boer had to work under the most difficult circumstances.
“De Boer did a lot of good and that allowed Overmars to put together a team for Ten Hag that reached the semi-finals of the Champions League. I don’t want to detract from Ten Hag’s performance.”
