Two weeks into Arne Slot’s Liverpool reign and we are yet to see or hear from the new boss.
It was always likely that Slot would take some time away from the cameras before starting life on Merseyside.
The 45-year-old has just had a long season at Feyenoord himself and Liverpool need him ready and refreshed for the job at Anfield.
As well as taking some time to recharge his batteries though, there has been a feeling that part of the reason we haven’t yet heard from Slot has been to do with issues regarding his coaching team.
Liverpool have still not officially announced any members of the head coach’s backroom staff. And after news filtered through late on Wednesday night, it may now be clear why.
Etienne Reijnen refused Liverpool work permit
Although Liverpool themselves haven’t come out and confirmed it, it has been reported elsewhere that Sipke Hulshoff will definitely be Slot’s No.2 at Anfield.
Furthermore, physical performance coach Ruben Peeters’ agency have already declared that he has signed a deal for the Reds, too.
Along with those two coaches, there had been an expectation that Etienne Reijnen would be swapping Rotterdam for Liverpool as well.
Feyenoord were reportedly set to block Slot from raiding their staff further, but Reijnen was one who was expected to arrive.
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However, the 37-year-old analyst and technical advisor has since run into problems with obtaining a work permit. Suddenly, Reijnen’s arrival at Liverpool was thrown into doubt.
Unfortunately, taking to X on Wednesday evening, journalist David Lynch confirmed that Slot’s Feyenoord colleague is ‘no longer expected’ to arrive with his former boss.
“Feyenoord coach Etienne Reijnen is no longer expected to join Arne Slot at Liverpool amid work permit issues,” writes Lynch.
Who will Arne Slot hire instead?
The AXA Training Centre will have a slightly empty feeling to it whenever Slot and the Liverpool staff reconvene there in July.
Seven of Jurgen Klopp’s old team have now left the building, and only two are definitely coming in to replace them.
As a result Liverpool and Slot have plenty of work on to identify and hire the right people.
One of those they had looked to bring on board was seemingly another Feyenoord coach – head of goalkeeping Jyri Nieminen.
However, Nieminen has already confirmed that he will not be moving to Liverpool either.
As the clock begins to tick down towards the start of pre-season, this is now a little bit of a worry. Let’s get those positions filled, no more dallying around.