Everton manager David Moyes may consider hiring a coach he worked with at West Ham United.
David Moyes has a very strong team of coaches around him at Everton, with three assistant managers helping him.
Alan Irvine, Billy McKinlay and Leighton Baines all support Moyes in delivering training sessions and preparing the team on matchdays.
Baines was actually promoted to the first-team by Moyes back in January after a successful spell as the under-18s manager.
Now, after a recent development, the Scotsman may look to add another assistant manager to his ranks.
Ajax manager John Heitinga.
Photo by Halil Sagirkaya/Anadolu via Getty Images
David Moyes given golden chance to reunite with John Heitinga
Former Everton defender John Heitinga has been sacked by Ajax after just 15 games in charge. The Dutch giants are sitting fourth in the Eredivisie and have not won a single point in the Champions League.
Heitinga might not be out of work for long, though, as Moyes may try to convince his former player and coach to return to Merseyside.
The 41-year-old was Moyes’ assistant manager at West Ham United during the 2023/24 season, helping the Hammers to a ninth-place finish, which in hindsight was a very commendable achievement.
MORE EVERTON STORIES
Heitinga played under Moyes, too, making just shy of 150 appearances for the Toffees between 2009 and 2014.
So the Scotsman may seriously consider making an approach, as clearly he’s a highly-rated coach to even get the Ajax job in the first place.
John Heitinga does have Liverpool connections
There may be a sticking point with the potential Heitinga hire.
The Dutchman was Arne Slot’s assistant manager when fierce Merseyside rivals Liverpool won the league last term.
Working at Liverpool and Everton in back-to-back seasons would certainly be unusual, so perhaps that element of doubt may creep into Heitinga’s mind.
Anyhow, he may want to just focus on getting into management again, although any forthcoming opportunity would likely be a significant step down from Ajax.
There has even been a suggestion that Heitinga could return to Liverpool and rejoin Slot’s staff. It’d be interesting to see who he’d select if both Everton and the Reds offered him a contract.