According to ITV News, Pepijn Lijnders has left Liverpool to become a manager at NEC Nijmegen.
Lijnders had worked his way up to becoming a Liverpool first-team development coach and a key member of Jurgen Klopp’s backroom staff, having arrived at the club in 2014 to coach the under-16s.
Klopp hailed the impact Lijnders has had on developing young talents into the senior side and admits that the coach’s departure will be a huge loss.
Klopp told the Liverpool club website:
Firstly, I am gutted to be losing such a valuable member of our coaching team and such a brilliant person from our group
But that is tempered by the fact I am very excited for him to have this opportunity and as much as we would have loved for him to remain with us, we cannot stand in his way for what is a fantastic opportunity.
It is hard to undersell the role Pep played in helping us settle, educating us about football life in England and then contributing ideas to the progress and development of this team.
Lijnders also paid tribute to Klopp, who he called a ‘world class’ manager and he believes that the squad are in good hands under the German.
I could write for hours thanking the people at Liverpool who have helped me since I came here and the decision to leave has not been easy.
Working with the first-team squad was magical. They confirmed every day that everything starts and ends with passion for the game. With the quality this club already has in the building, only time is against this project.
