Former Liverpool assistant coach Pep Lijnders is reportedly on the verge of arriving at Manchester City to become part of Pep Guardiola's coaching staff.
The Citizens confirmed earlier this week that assistant coaches Juanma Lillo and Inigo Dominguez will both depart upon the expiration of their contracts this summer, while Carlos Vicens has agreed to become the head coach of Portuguese side Braga.
Lillo, who expressed a desire to return to his native Spain, enjoyed two hugely successful spells at Man City after originally linking up with Guardiola's backroom team in 2020.
The 59-year-old left the Citizens in the summer of 2022 to become head coach of Qatari club Al Sadd before returning to the Etihad Stadium as an assistant in 2023.
As for Dominguez, he will depart City after two years at the club, while Vicens joined in 2017 and lead the Under-18s to an FA Youth Cup in 2020, before spending the last four years with Guardiola's first-team squad.
© Imago
Pep to join Pep... and Kolo could reunite with City
Man City said in a statement that replacements for all three coaches "will be announced in due course", and it seems as if a couple of those could be imminent.
According to journalist Fabrizio Romano, ex-Liverpool man Lijnders is set to become part of Man City's coaching staff to work under Guardiola.
Romano adds that former Man City defender Kolo Toure, who spent four years at the Etihad between 2009 and 2013, could also be added to the club's coaching team.
After retiring from football in 2017, Toure worked as an assistant coach under Brendan Rodgers at Celtic and Leicester City, before taking his first head coach role at Wigan Athletic, where he lasted less than two months (between November 2022 and January 2023) after failing to win any of his nine games in charge.
Lijnders, meanwhile, has been out of work since being sacked by Red Bull Salzburg in Decemeber last year after just six months in charge of the Austrian giants.
The 42-year-old had previously managed Dutch outfit NEC Breda for a four-month period in 2018, but he is best known for working as Jurgen Klopp's number two at Liverpool at a time when both the Reds and Man City were fiercely battling it out for top spot in the Premier League.
© Imago
"Influential" and "exceptional" Lijnders set to join Man City
Lijnders won eight trophies during his time at Liverpool, most notably becoming a Champions League winner in 2019 before helping the Reds end their 30-year wait for a Premier League title in 2020.
The Dutchman was lauded by Klopp when both of their Anfield departures were confirmed towards the end of last season following a successful coaching partnership on the touchline.
"The most influential guy in the last years definitely in this club was Pep Lijnders," Klopp told Liverpool's official website in February last year.
"The job he did is absolutely exceptional. The inspiration he is for me is absolutely exceptional. The relationship we grew is absolutely exceptional. Outstanding, everything.
"And I'm really looking forward to follow his way and to support if necessary. And if I can, I will definitely do."
It remains to be seen whether Lijnders, and possibly Toure, will arrive at Man City before they begin their FIFA Club World Cup campaign in the United States on June 18.
Oliver Thomas
