Liverpool coach John Heitinga has been made a frontrunner for a vacant manager’s job in the Championship, according to reports.

The former Everton defender only joined the Reds during the summer after being appointed as one of Arne Slot’s backroom staff. Heitinga hadn’t worked with Slot before this season, having previously been a coach for David Moyes at West Ham.

The 41-year-old though has played his part in Liverpool’s success so far this season, with the Reds winning 22 of their 26 games under Slot and his team to lead the Premier League by six points, while also having a place in the Champions League’s last-16 all but wrapped up.

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Reports though suggest Heitinga is in the running for a manager’s job elsewhere, and could therefore leave Anfield just a matter of months after joining Liverpool.

According to the Daily Mail, Heitinga has emerged as a frontrunner for the job at West Brom, which has become available after Carlos Corberan left for Valencia at Christmas.

It’s claimed that the Championship club believes Heitinga has the potential to prove himself as a top manager in his own right, with the Baggies looking for a ‘bright thinker’ to succeed Corberan.

Should Liverpool lose Heitinga, it would come as a big blow to Slot, who has praised his fellow Dutchman after getting the chance to work with him for the first time this season.

“One of the reasons why we work together is because we have so much in common, if it’s about playing style, game model or the changes we make during the game,” Slot said earlier this month.

“John Heitinga is now here with me for the first half season and I couldn’t have wished for more. Very, if I say, talented, I do not even rate him high enough because he’s more than that already, he’s been a head coach himself but he’s still young.

“He grew into our staff from the start in a very good manner. He has the same idea about football, that’s why I chose him to come to us as well. But the way he is with the boys is very positive. All the things we do we do together.

“John has played many games in the Premier League and last season he was an assistant coach at West Ham, so brings experience as a player, but also as an assistant in this league.

“He worked with someone that I know really well, and the two of us have quite a similar playing style, so I think it’s not going to take long for him to understand exactly what we want with the players.”

Liverpool.com says: It would be a shame if Liverpool were to lose Heitinga so early on in Slot’s reign, but if he has ambitions of becoming a manager, you can’t really stand in his way if he wants to take on the West Brom job. Hopefully Slot would be able to bring a replacement in quickly who can have just as positive an effect.