Pep Lijnders Returns to Liverpool Coaching Staff

Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp was disappointed to lose Pep Lijnders when the young coach headed home to the Netherlands to take over NEC Nijmegen, saying he was “gutted” to lose Lijnders but “excited” to see him given the opportunity.

Unfortunately for Lijnders, that opportunity didn’t pan out as hoped, and he parted ways with NEC after the club failed to earn promotion to the Dutch top flight despite that they appeared favourites to do so when he first arrived in January.

It seemed inevitable, given how highly rated Lijnders was by Klopp and Liverpool’s upper management, that he would return to Anfield when he left NEC. It’s hardly a surprise, then, to see the club announcing today that he has rejoined Klopp’s staff.

In the official announcement the club say Lijnders will return in an unspecified “senior capacity,” which means it’s possible that if Zeljko Buvac does not return as assistant manager there’s a chance Lijnders could end up taking on that role.

For now, though, Buvac remains on the books and sources with ties to the club insist Klopp and Liverpool haven’t given up completely on him returning to the club before the start of the 2018-19 season.