Man City confirm double addition ahead of Club World Cup | OneFootball

Manchester City have appointed former Liverpool coaches Pepjin Lijnders and James French to their backroom staff.

Lijnders becomes Pep Guardiola’s assistant coach off the back of being sacked as head coach of Red Bull Salzburg after just seven months in charge.

Before that, he was at Liverpool for nine-and-a-half years – where he was Jurgen Klopp’s assistant.

The Dutch coach joined Liverpool in 2014 as part of Brendan Rodgers’ backroom staff before then being part of Klopp’s setup that won the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and the the League Cup twice.

French comes to Manchester City directly from Liverpool, where he was an opposition analyst for 13 years. He becomes Pep Guardiola’s new set-piece coach.

It follows the departure of three members of Guardiola’s backroom staff in Juanma Lillo, Inigo Dominguez and Carlos Vicens, who left the club at the end of last season.

This reshuffle of the backroom staff at City comes straight after the first season since the 2019/20 campaign in which the Manchester club did not win the Premier League title.

Manchester City’s director of football Hugo Viana believes that Lijnders and French sharing the same values as the club was a major factor in these appointments.

“We are all delighted that Pepijn and James have joined our senior coaching set-up,” he said.

“Pepijn and James have each amassed huge experience working in their individual roles over the past few years.

“Their talent, application, work ethic and all-round commitment are totally aligned with the values that underpin how Pep wants football to be played.

“And I have no doubt at all that both will prove to be very important assets for Pep and his coaching team as we prepare for the Club World Cup and then the 2025/26 season.”

Manchester City will get their Club World Cup campaign started on 18 June, and are hoping to wrap up the signings of both Rayan Cherki and Tijjani Reijnders for the tournament having already added Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolves.