Liverpool hero's agent admits ex-Reds star would love Anfield return this summer

Daily Mirror

a day ago

While attention remains firmly placed on whether move can be sealed for Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen, Arne Slot remains in the market for a new assistant after John Heitinga's departure
Dirk Kuyt would love to rejoin Liverpool as Arne Slot's assistant manager but his agent has ruled out the prospect of the Anfield cult hero replacing John Heitinga as the head coach's key lieutenant.
Slot is in the market for a new assistant coach after Heitinga last week became the new boss at Ajax and that prompted speculation that former forward Kuyt could step in - having previously had a chance to work as an assistant under the Reds chief while at AZ Alkmaar.
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However Kuyt's representative Rob Jansen has said the move will not happen.
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'No, it will be a different assistant coach. That would have been great for him,' Jansen told podcast KieftJansenEgmondGijp. 'The assistant of Liverpool will be someone else. It would have been great for Dirk. He would have loved to go to Liverpool. Assistant there is of course a serious level.'
In a conversation on Peter Crouch's podcast earlier this season Kuyt confirmed he turned down Slot's offer at Alkmaar.
'I know him very well. I had the opportunity when I retired from football to become his assistant at AZ,' Kuyt said. 'I didn't choose to become his assistant which I regret of course now.
"But when he was at Feyenoord he gave me the opportunity to work a week alongside him to see how he's training and preparing for a game, so that was really interesting and of course I follow him very closely.'
Kuyt, currently in charge of Belgian top flight side Beerschot, spent six seasons at Liverpool, scoring 71 times in 285 appearances. But his only piece of silverware was a League Cup.
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Among the other names linked with replacing Heitinga are Marino Pusic, who was Slot's assistant at AZ and Feyenoord and last month said farewell to Shakhtar Donetsk.
Etienne Reijnen, the current Feyenoord assistant, was in contention for a role last summer but there were reported issues with his work permit.
Liverpool have already had an active start to the off-season with Jeremie Frimpong arriving from Bayer Leverkusen as Trent Alexander-Arnold's replacement, while Milos Kerkez is close to being signed from Bournemouth and talks continue with Leverkusen around star man Florian Wirtz over a British record deal that could end up being worth £125m.