'Urgh what is happening' - Arne Slot asked big Everton question as Liverpool connection re-emerges

Eyebrows were initially raised when John Heitinga joined Liverpool in the summer. The former Everton defender crossed the Stanley Park divide to become a member of new head coach Arne Slot’s backroom staff.

Having previously served as David Moyes’ assistant manager at West Ham United and as a youth coach at Ajax, the former Netherlands international joined the Reds as assistant coach.

The 41-year-old made 140 appearances for the Blues during four and a half years at Goodison Park during his playing days. Consequently, while it was initially odd to see the former Everton star in Liverpool training wear, his Mersey past is now very much a moot point. The Dutchman has even been caught on camera enjoying a joke at his former club’s expense in training.

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However, Slot was initially wary about adding Heitinga to his staff due to his previous Blues allegiances. In an interview with his own former team-mate Sander Westerveld, who played for both Liverpool and Everton during his own playing days, the Dutchman admitted he had asked around to see if his compatriot’s appointment would cause any unnecessary problems.

“I brought in two assistant managers in John Heitinga and Sipke Hulshoff,” he said. “They are very important for me.

“With John, I hadn’t worked with him before… we added John to the staff which was a really good idea. He’s a very good person and a very good manager and coach as well. I just said ‘very good person’, and for me that’s vital…

“Yes, I knew (he played for Everton). To be fair, I did ask here, around, would this (Heitinga’s Everton connection) be a problem? Would these lead to people saying, ‘Urgh, what is happening over here?’

“And the reaction was the only problem could be was for himself because of the legacy he had at Everton. I don’t think the Everton fans really like seeing him over here.

“But I don’t know exactly. What I do know is that he’s a young but very talented manager who works his b*****ks off every day.”

While Slot might have had to check if there would be any issues in adding a former Everton player to his staff, Heitinga actually already had a Liverpool connection, if not split loyalties, prior to joining the Reds - He is married to the sister of former Liverpool star Bolo Zenden!

Heitinga married Charlotte Zenden in 2010, but the pair first crossed paths back in 2004 after Bolo inadvertently found himself forced into playing match-maker as numbers were exchanged when they were away in Portugal at the European Championships.

"I'm not sure whether many people in the UK know the link between John and myself... obviously everyone in Holland knows,” Zenden previously revealed at Ladbrokes Fanzone. "It's funny how our careers went, when you look at our relationship today; I played for Liverpool, he went to Everton, he started off at Ajax, I started off at PSV.

"We did play together in the Euros in 2004, and that's when my sister and him first met up, and they've been together ever since.

"I don't remember whether he asked for my sister's number or my sister asked for his number - I guess the only thing I really said to him was, 'You'd better be good to my sister!'"