Liverpool make new academy appointment

Former Ajax player Piet Hamberg will take over as academy technical manager at Liverpool after the departure of Steve Heighway.

Hamberg joins from Grasshoppers of Zurich, where he was in charge of the youth set-up, having previously coached in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

He will work alongside John Owens (academy manager) and Malcolm Elias (recruitment).

Chief executive Rick Parry said: “Following the departure of Steve we took the opportunity to review the academy structure and decided to separate the very distinct roles.

“Piet will come in with the specific brief to head up the coaching and development side, while Malcolm will be in charge of all recruitment.”

Manager Rafa Benitez added on the club’s website, www.liverpoolfc.tv: “We have had some very good reports about Piet and he will bring great experience to the new role.

“Our youngsters can only benefit from working with someone with his background in youth development.”