Liverpool confirm 15-year servant WON’T be part of Arne Slot era

Liverpool will see yet another departure this summer as they confirmed a 15-year servant is to leave the club. John Achterberg has fans across Anfield.

The Athletic reports on Wednesday that John Achterberg will leave Liverpool this summer. The goalkeeper coach’s contract expires and he won’t be a part of Arne Slot’s backroom team.

Achterberg first joined Liverpool in 2009, initially as a goalkeeper coach. Kenny Dalglish promoted him into a first-team role in 2011, though, and he’s remained there ever since.

And it shouldn’t be understated how valuable Achterberg has been. For one, the Athletic’s report mentions how he pushed for Alisson’s signing back in 2018. The Brazilian has since become one of the club’s all-time greatest.

Jurgen Klopp has been very complimentary of Achterberg over the years, too, while Alisson has talked him up. This is a fairly big exit, then - the coach has been a part of the furniture for some time now.

Rafa Benitez was in charge of the first team when Achterberg arrived. He’s since worked under Roy Hodgson, Dalglish, Brendan Rodgers and the entire Klopp era.

Slot, though, will need his own goalkeeper coach - and that means yet another new hire for Liverpool this summer. There’s no shortage of those.

Another Liverpool exit

Klopp is the headline exit this summer, of course. No one is usurping that position.

But plenty of coaches will also leave. Pep Lijnders is off, as is Vitor Matos and Peter Krawietz. They’ve been the core of Klopp’s coaching staff - along with Achterberg for the goalkeepers.

Now, Slot will naturally attempt to bring Feyenoord staff with him as they’re people he knows. The Dutch champions are unlikely to let everyone leave, though.

Jyri Nieminen is the current goalkeeper coach at Feyenoord, but he only joined last summer on a three-year deal. Not an easy one to get.

That means Liverpool must find some of the best coaching talent around, and Achterberg’s replacement presumably comes into that. It’s another massive job facing the likes of Richard Hughes and Slot this summer.