The rumor mill is spinning at a rather advanced pace for Liverpool. So much so that not even former coaches are immune from being pulled into the fray.
In this case, the subject of the speculation is former Liverpool assistant Pep Lijnders as reports emerged over the last day or so that the Dutchman would join Pep Guardiola at Manchester City. This is a minor bombshell given Lijnders past association with Liverpool - spanning the length of approximately 10 years - as well as his own words of not wanting to take on any assistant post for anyone other than Jurgen Klopp.
Lijnders struggled mightily this past season in Austria as he was dismissed by Red Bull Salzburg in December 2024 after a slew of bad results. This unfortunately included a few former Reds youth, such as Bobby Clark, who were brought to Salzburg by Lijnders.
In terms of what this may mean to the overall fortunes of City, no one can truly say. It’s clear Guardiola managed to find some footing towards the end of the year as City fought their way back into Champions League places with relatively little drama. And knowing how much Klopp relied upon Lijnders to run training and, eventually, to take on certain cup matches, it’s not like he’s without talent.
But given the way that City is clearly a club in flux - almost all of Guardiola’s backroom staff are said to be leaving - I don’t know that it means too much beyond a talented assistant was available and City found value in making a move. Given that Lijnders isn’t exactly fresh off of a stint at Liverpool, I also don’t think he’s got value in terms of providing insight as to how Liverpool operates.
All told, it seems like a case of a talented coach meeting a prime job opening. Here’s hoping for the best to Lijnders but only as far as being permanently looking up at Liverpool in the league table.