Who is Johnny Heitinga? Arne Slot’s Liverpool replacement married to Chelsea ace’s sister

Liverpool are set to face Newcastle without Arne Slot at the helm, and Johnny Heitinga will step in to guide the Reds in his absence. Slot and assistant Sipke Hulshoff have each been banned for two matches following the controversy that ensued after the recent Merseyside derby draw with Everton, where the pair were both shown red cards for confronting referee Michael Oliver.

This means assistant first-team coach and ex-Everton defender Heitinga will take centre stage as Liverpool seek to build on Sunday's 2-0 victory over Manchester City. Heitinga briefly managed childhood club Ajax in 2023, but this will be by far his most meaningful managerial role to date.

With Liverpool currently 11 points clear at the Premier League summit, Wednesday's match against Newcastle will be a real challenge. And Express Sport (via The Mirror) has delved into the background of Heitinga, who could emerge as either hero or villain depending on how his midweek test turns out.

Net worth confession

After retiring from professional football with Ajax in 2016, John Heitinga faced the challenges that come with swapping the pitch for the dugout. But the difficulty was not so much the coaching itself but the dramatic drop in salary impacting his lifestyle and family.

The decorated Netherlands international drew a handsome £55,000 weekly wage during his Everton days and amassed substantial wealth throughout a 15-year career. However, he was one year into retirement when he addressed the lifestyle adjustments he's had to make since leaving the field, particularly noting the absence of certain luxury travel perks.

"When I was still playing football we had a lot more money coming in," Heitinga told 1limburg in 2017. "Our expenditures were likewise. Now we are trying to adjust.

"In the past, we sometimes chartered a private jet, but we don't do that now. On holidays we do still rent a fancy villa, but you get different categories of 'fancy'. We are trying to get used to it. Sometimes it is difficult."

Marrying his team-mate's sister

It was more than two decades ago that Heitinga found his match with the sister of an ex-Chelsea star and fellow Dutch team-mate. And the comrade in question was former Liverpool, Chelsea and Barcelona maestro, Bolo Zenden.

Zenden was wrapping up his international career when a young Heitinga seized the chance to court his sister, Charlotte Sophie. Both players were part of the Netherlands squad at Euro 2004, and Zenden perhaps regretted having his sibling in such close proximity to the camp after Heitinga took a shining to her.

"It's funny how our careers went, when you look at our relationship today," Zenden once told Ladbrokes Fanzone. "I played for Liverpool, he went to Everton. He started off at Ajax, I started off at PSV. We did play together in the Euros in 2004, and that's when my sister and him first met up, and they've been together ever since."

The former Premier League adversaries only clashed for two seasons as rivals before Zenden decided to hang up his boots for good. The gifted star might have appreciated that spell to get some form of sweet revenge on Heitinga, who remains a part of his extended family.

Regret over Everton exit

Liverpool stand a strong chance of taking home a major trophy this season, which could lead to some awkwardness on Heitinga's part. With 140 matches for Merseyside rivals Everton - where he spent four-and-a-half years of his career and never saw the club drop below eighth in the Premier League - Heitinga may well find the Reds' success difficult to juggle.

The Dutchman made the difficult decision to leave Goodison Park in January 2014, turning down a contract extension and opting for a free transfer to Fulham. However, he later admitted to The Athletic in 2022 that he regretted the move, particularly because it didn't sit well with then-Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal.

"From 2004 'til 2012, I played almost all the matches in the Dutch national team, especially the tournaments, and then he [Van Gaal] became the manager," he said. "Most of the qualification games for the World Cup 2014 I was playing, but I was in a situation with Everton that I didn't extend, I didn't sign a new contract.

"That's one thing that I regret, it was better for me to sign a new deal with Everton. So I didn't play that much. Van Gaal said, 'you have to make a move.' That's why in January I made the move to Fulham. But in the end he was just clear, he said I didn't play enough. 'I would choose for someone else.'"