Arne Slot has received a boost with news John Heitinga will not be leaving Liverpool this month.

The former Everton defender turned Reds coach joined Slot's backroom staff in the summer after working under David Moyes at West Ham. With West Bromwich Albion coach Carlos Corberan having recently left the Baggies to join Valencia in La Liga, a number of coaches have been linked with the Championship side.

One of those names involved had been Heitinga, who briefly managed Ajax during the second half of the 2022/23 campaign. However it is understood that while the Dutchman had been linked with a move to the Hawthorns, he will not be making the move this month.

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Rob Jansen, Heitinga's agent, recently told Dutch outlet De Telegraaf: "John will definitely stay at Liverpool this season."

And while Slot will be delighted to retain the coaching services of Heitinga, it seems inevitable based on the former's opinion that his compatriot will one day take up a number one job again. Speaking earlier this season Heitinga's impact, Slot said: "John Heitinga is here with me for the first half of the season and I couldn’t have wished for more. A very, if I say talented I don’t rate him high enough because he’s more than that.

"He’s been a head coach before, still young but grew into our staff from the start in a good manner and has the same idea about football – that’s why I chose him."

And Slot was also asked about Ajax's decision to not keep Heitinga. Speaking to Algemeen Dagblad, Slot said: "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. Apparently they did not realise in Amsterdam that they had an excellent coach in-house."

Liverpool.com says: "Liverpool could do without the hassle of changing up their backroom staff mid-season after such a successful campaign so far. At some point, Heitinga may want to leave to advance his own coaching ambitions, but at least for this season, it looks as though he will be sticking around."