Liverpool have suffered a blow at the hands of Manchester City after ‘the brain’ behind Jurgen Klopp’s success joins Pep Guardiola’s coaching team
11:45, 10 Jun 2025
Jurgen Klopp - Pep Lijnders
Jurgen Klopp's former assistant at Liverpool Pep Lijnders has joined Man City
Former Liverpool assistant coach Pep Lijnders has joined Manchester City.
The Dutchman was lauded for his work under Jurgen Klopp at Anfield as the Reds won all there is to win. But fear has now been struck into Liverpool fans with Lijnders now set to work alongside Pep Guardiola as City look to reclaim the Premier League title.
City announced in a statement on Tuesday that Lijnders has been appointed as assistant coach, while James French also joins as set-piece coach in a light shake-up to Guardiola’s backroom staff.
Lijnders, 42, first joined Liverpool under Brendan Rodgers, working as a development coach, before moving into a more prominent role under Klopp. However, he left on his first ill-fated attempt at management in 2018, taking charge of NEC in the Dutch second division.
Failure to win promotion to the Eredivisie saw Lijnders sacked and he soon returned to the coaching team at Liverpool, a year before their Champions League success in 2019. He was then instrumental to the Reds winning their first league title in 30 years in 2020.
Pep Lijnders - Jurgen Klopp
Lijnders returned to Liverpool in 2018
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Klopp hailed his assistant during their time at Anfield, saying: "Pep [Lijnders] has become unbelievably important in a short time because he writes everything down, he is also part of ‘the brain’ because he is our mind to remember the things what we did in previous sessions.
“He brings us the next coaching generation; we are not old but we are already that long in the business, so it’s normal that you have routines, you use them and they are good.
“We try to stay open all the time, but with Pep he is our connecting point to the present and the future, so that’s really, really important.”
Lijnders left Anfield to pursue to his own management career again in 2024 as he left alongside Klopp. But his decision to go it alone came crumbling down again at Austrian giants Red Bull Salzburg.
He lasted just 29 games at the helm before he was sacked last December with Salzburg 10 points off top spot; they would eventually finish second, just two points off the title under Thomas Letsch.
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Lijnders also angered the Liverpool board during his time in charge of Salzburg with his treatment of Stefan Bajcetic, who joined on loan at the beginning of last season.
But the midfielder started just six league games before he was recalled and sent on loan to Las Palmas for the remainder of the campaign.