Liverpool confirm double arrival as ex-Arsenal man joins and former Red returns to Anfield | OneFootball

The incomings and outgoings at Liverpool this summer aren’t restricted to playing personnel, with change aplenty behind the scenes as well.

This time last year, there was major upheaval in terms of coaching staff at Anfield, with many of Jurgen Klopp’s backroom team also departing the club and Arne Slot duly bringing in a number of allies to accompany him on his journey in L4.

The 46-year-old has already seen one of his trusted lieutenants leaving since the end of last season, with his former assistant Johnny Heitinga taking the head coach job at Ajax just over a month ago.

Liverpool confirm further backroom changes

Liverpool have today confirmed two other departures among Slot’s backroom staff, along with two new additions at the club (as per liverpoolfc.com).

Goalkeeping coaches Claudio Taffarel and Fabian Otte have bid farewell to the Reds, with Xavi Valero returning to LFC as the new head of first-team goalkeeper coaching, having previously been at the club during the managerial reign of Rafael Benitez in the late 2000s.

The Premier League champions also have a new assistant coach in Giovanni van Bronckhorst, the ex-Barcelona and Arsenal defender who most recently was in charge of Besiktas before leaving seven months ago.

(Photo by Ahmad Mora/Getty Images)

Hopefully Van Bronckhorst and Valero can offer plenty to Liverpool

The goalkeeping department at Liverpool next season will look radically different to 2024/25 both on and off the field.

Caoimhin Kelleher has gone to Brentford and Vitezslav Jaros has joined Heitinga’s Ajax on loan, with Giorgi Mamardashvili, Armin Pecsi and Freddie Woodman all coming in. Among the backroom team, Taffarel and Otte have left with Valero joining Slot’s staff after spending the last seven years at West Ham.

Meanwhile, Van Bronckhorst resumes an assistant role after spending the bulk of the past decade in head coaching roles at Feyenoord, Guangzhou R&F, Rangers and Besiktas. Just like the man under whom he’s now working, he won the Eredivisie title with the Rotterdam outfit (in 2017).

He also guided the Glasgow side to the Europa League final three years ago, where they lost on penalties to Oliver Glasner’s Eintracht Frankfurt, although he won’t care to remember the last time he came up against Liverpool. He was in charge of the Gers when we thrashed them 7-1 at Ibrox in October 2022.

His reign at Besiktas last year, lasting for just six months and seeing him won only half of his 20 games in charge, although the first of those was a 5-0 thumping of Istanbul rivals Galatasaray in the Turkish Super Cup 11 months ago (Transfermarkt).

Hopefully Van Bronckhorst will enjoy a more successful time at Liverpool and he and Valero can both play an integral role in the Reds winning plenty of silverware with Slot in charge!