Ajax is reportedly considering John Heitinga as their new head coach, according to transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano, De Telegraaf, and the AD on Wednesday. The former international is expected to succeed the departed Francesco Farioli in Amsterdam.
The 41-year-old Heitinga is currently working as an assistant to Arne Slot at Liverpool. With ‘The Reds’, he convincingly won the national championship last season. According to transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano, negotiations between Ajax and Liverpool are already in an advanced stage.
According to the AD and De Telegraaf, the intention is for Marcel Keizer to become Heitinga’s assistant. The 56-year-old former professional has been without a club for a year and a half after ventures in the Middle East. Both Heitinga and Keizer are reportedly in favor of this arrangement.
For Heitinga and Keizer, it would mean a return to Ajax. Club icon and former top defender Heitinga was already the head coach of Ajax on an interim basis in 2023, but he did not receive a permanent appointment.
Keizer also had a short tenure as Ajax’s coach in 2017. In his first weeks in Amsterdam, the former professional had to deal with the drama surrounding Abdelhak Nouri, who suffered a cardiac arrest during a training camp in Austria, resulting in severe and permanent brain damage.
Ajax previously missed out on Ten Hag
Heitinga and Keizer were mentioned sporadically in recent weeks as successors to Farioli, who resigned from Ajax last week due to a difference of opinion with the management. Technical director Alex Kroes had Erik ten Hag high on his list, but he opted for Bayer Leverkusen on Monday.
Heitinga and Keizer have worked together before at Ajax. In the 2016/2017 season, Keizer was the head coach and Heitinga the assistant coach at Jong Ajax. The following year, Keizer was promoted to the main squad as the successor to the departing Peter Bosz.
That did not go well. After the drama with Nouri, Ajax missed out on Champions League and Europa League qualification and were eliminated from the KNVB Cup against FC Twente. The latter proved fatal for Keizer. Then-technical director Marc Overmars then opted for Ten Hag.
After Keizer’s dismissal, Heitinga, who played 218 games for Ajax across two periods, remained working as a coach in Amsterdam. His highlight came in 2023, when he was allowed to lead the main squad on an interim basis after the dismissal of Alfred Schreuder.
After a few months, in which Ajax finished third in the Eredivisie and lost the cup final to PSV on penalties, that came to an end again. This was despite the players wanting to keep Heitinga.
Then-technical director Sven Mislintat wanted to take a different path and therefore opted for Sparta coach Maurice Steijn. That turned out dramatically. Mislintat and Steijn had to leave after only a few months of crisis.
Heitinga had already left Ajax by then and was working as an assistant to David Moyes at West Ham United. Since last summer, he has been active at Liverpool, much to Slot’s satisfaction. “Apparently, they didn’t realize in Amsterdam that they had an excellent trainer in house,” Slot said in December to the AD.