It’s been widely known that Dutch midfield legend and former Rangers and Besiktas head coach Giovanni van Bronckhorst would be arriving on Merseyside this summer to become manager Arne Slot’s new assistant following the departure of John Hetinga.
Today, Van Bronckhorst’s appointment was made official by the club as part of a series of offseason coaching changes that also sees Xavi Valero return as [Liverpool](https://liverpooloffside.sbnation.com/)’s goalkeeping coach after spending the last seven seasons filling the same role at West Ham.
Valero’s links with the Reds go a long way back, with the former goalkeeper—Valero made 165 senior appearances over ten stops at nine different clubs across 12 seasons—having first joined Liverpool in 2007 as a position coach under Rafa Benitez.
His arrival, though, does mean a departure for Claudio Taffarel, widely seen as Alisson Becker’s personal position coach, and fellow goalkeeping coach Fabian Otte. For Van Brockhurst, the assistant job opened when Hetinga took the Ajax manager job.
Van Bronckhorst made his name as a player with impactful stops at Feyenoord, Rangers, Arsenal, and Barcelona before transitioning into management and returning to boyhood club Feyenoord. He also managed with Guangzhou, Rangers, and Besiktas.