Tottenham have appointed John Heitinga, the former Ajax head coach and assistant to Arne Slot at Liverpool, to Thomas Frank’s coaching staff. Frank said one of the Dutchman’s main responsibilities would be to work with the defence.
Heitinga’s arrival was confirmed after Spurs announced that Carlos Raphael Moersen was joining as their first director of football operations. He is coming in from City Football Group, which oversees a stable of clubs that includes Manchester City.
Heitinga’s addition to the staff comes with Spurs having won only one of their past seven matches. The run has left Frank under pressure before Saturday’s Premier League game at home to West Ham. Frank lost a member of his staff shortly before Christmas when Matt Wells took the head coach’s role at Colorado Rapids.
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Heitinga, a former Netherlands international, worked with Ajax’s youth teams before taking interim charge of the first team from January 2023 to the end of that season. The former Everton and Fulham defender had roles as an assistant at West Ham and Liverpool, whom he helped to the title last season, before returning to Ajax last May for a spell as head coach that lasted less than six months.
Frank said: “His ability, personality and character will add huge value both on and off the pitch. He had an impressive playing career across Europe – including five years in the Premier League – and with the Dutch national team. As a former defender, that will be one of his main responsibilities on the training pitch.”
Moersen, known as Rafi, will not join until before the summer transfer window because he is on gardening leave. He has spent more than a decade at CFG, serving most recently as director of football transactions.
Tottenham said Moersen would lead the club’s football administration, player care and training-ground operations, and that a major part of his job would involve overseeing the women’s setup.
The co-sporting director Fabio Paratici is leaving for Fiorentina at the end of the January window. Dan Lewindon will join Spurs as performance director next month.
