Arne Slot has already admitted Liverpool coach John Heitinga is ready to become a manager, and felt Ajax missed a trick in allowing him to leave the club in 2023.

Heitinga is being linked with the vacant West Bromwich Albion role following the departure of Carlos Corberan, who departed the club on Christmas Eve to take over at La Liga side Valencia. As the search for a replacement begins, Heitinga’s name is said to be among the frontrunners.

As per the Daily Mail, West Brom believe the ex- Everton defender ‘has the potential to prove himself as a top manager in his own right’ and has ‘made a big impression at Anfield under manager Arne Slot’.

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Heitinga’s only managerial experience so far came during his time at Ajax, when he oversaw the second half of the club’s 2022/23 season. The Amsterdam club opted against renewing his contract at the end of the campaign, despite Heitinga winning 11 of his 16 league matches in charge and guiding the team to the KNVB Cup final.

It was certainly a decision that surprised Slot, who was managing in the Netherlands at the time and thought Ajax made a mistake in allowing his now assistant to leave.

“That Sven Mislintat did not choose Heitinga as head coach at the time and that he left Ajax for that reason, Liverpool is now profiting from that,” he told Algemeen Dagblad in an interview earlier this month. “Apparently they did not realise in Amsterdam that they had an excellent coach in-house.”

After his brief stint at Ajax, Heitinga spent a year at the London Stadium working under former manager David Moyes, before joining up with Slot at the start of the 2024/25 campaign. His experience and knowledge of the Premier League were cited as major factors in Slot hiring the 41-year-old to be his assistant coach alongside Sipke Hulshoff.

It would, therefore, be a huge blow to lose Heitinga midway through Slot’s first campaign at Anfield.

The Dutchman spent five years playing in England - mainly with Everton, where he made 140 appearances for the Toffees. Heitinga is also one of just five players to be sent off in a World Cup final.