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Pep Lijnders could block Liverpool transfer as first job in new manager role
Pep Lijnders has been linked with new jobs ahead of his Liverpool departure this summer.
Liverpool assistant Pep Lijnders may ruin the Reds’ potential swoop for Red Bull Salzburg starlet Luka Sucic after being linked with the manager’s job at the Austrian club. Lijnders is widely expected to join Jurgen Klopp in leaving Anfield at the end of the season.
The Dutchman has been Klopp’s assistant for the majority of near-nine-year reign at Liverpool, aside from a brief five-month spell as manager of NEC Nijmegen. With Klopp unsure of his future beyond the summer, Lijnders has been linked with taking on a new managerial position.
According to The Athletic, RB Salzburg regard Lijnders as the ‘perfect’ successor to the sacked Gerhard Struber. He has made no secret of his desire to return to management despite struggling with Nijmegen, with whom he failed to gain promotion to the Dutch Eredivisie.
If Lijnders takes the job, he will be in a position to deny former club Liverpool a potential major transfer. At the start of last summer, the Premier League side were widely linked with Salzburg’s Croatian attacking midfielder Sucic.
The 21-year-old is the latest talent off the Red Bull production line, although he remained at the club last season. Sky Sports said that Liverpool were ‘assessing’ the player’s situation ahead of a major midfield overhaul.
Sucic did not join Liverpool but could become a target again this summer, particularly if Arne Slot decides he wants more midfielders. Lijnders, who will want to work with the talented Sucic, might turn down any approach, though.
The Salzburg star has scored three goals and provided six assists in 31 appearances across all competitions this season. His stock may rise if he builds on his five Croatia caps at Euro 2024 this summer.
Meanwhile, Lijnders has thanked the Liverpool supporters for backing the Reds during Klopp’s successful tenure. He said that the fans helped to make a ‘holy trinity’ alongside Klopp and the Liverpool players.
"The feeling I get is seeing the fans. Nothing would have been possible without them pushing us and we give the light, the fire to them,” Lijnders told the club’s website last week.
"They say the holy trinity – Shankly said the fans, the manager, in this case Jurgen, and the players, they three think the same about the game.
"That's the base of everything and I believe that. We were able to create that and that the fans think the same about the game and the players – I think that's something special."