John Heitinga has been appointed as the new head coach of Dutch giants Ajax on a two-year contract following the depature of Francesco Farioli, Afrosport reports.
Farioli left the Amsterdam outfit after seeing their lead of the Eredivisie slip from their grasp with a few games left, and ultimately ended one point behind bitter rivals PSV Eindhoven, marking the third season in a row Ajax failed to win any piece of silverware.
Heitinga will now leave his role as assistant to Liverpool boss Arne Slot and will join Ajax from July 1, where he will be assisted by Marcel Keizer.
“John is a good coach with enormous drive,” Ajax technical director Alex Kroes told the club website.
“He is ambitious and has further developed himself over the past few years in the Premier League and Champions League.
“John knows the club well and we are convinced that he, together with Marcel, will help improve our players and build on the progress made since last summer.”
Heitinga’s playing career started at Ajax in 2001, making 215 competitive appearances in seven years before going on to play for Atletico Madrid, Everton, Fulham and Hertha Berlin.
He also earned 87 caps for the Netherlands between 2004 and 2013, helping the Oranje reach the 2010 FIFA World Cup final in South Africa, where they lost to Spain.
Speaking on his new job, Heitinga said: “I am incredibly excited to start. The last years in England have done me a lot of good. I’m ready to continue as a head coach and I’m honoured to be given that opportunity at Ajax.”
Ajax has reached an agreement with John Heitinga regarding the coach’s move to Amsterdam. Heitinga is signing a contract with Ajax as head coach until June 30, 2027
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— AFC Ajax (@AFCAjax) May 31, 2025
The Alphen aan den Rijn-born man already has managerial experience with Ajax, first coaching the Under-19s between 2017 and 2021, followed by the reserve team from 2021 to 2023 and the senior team in an interim capacity in 2023.
