Mikel Arteta and Arsenal may be quietly worried about Arne Slot's new Liverpool signing

Liverpool are set to appoint Aaron Briggs as their new elite development coach.

The 37-year-old will join Arne Slot's backroom staff that has been left short of numbers after the exit of former manager Jurgen Klopp.

Klopp's assistant Pep Lijnders and Peter Kraweitz departed, as well as Vitor Matos. The Portuguese proved a conduit between the first team and the academy, with the likes of Jarell Quanah and Conor Bradley making the step into the senior set-up last season.

Now Briggs will now hold that remit. He has been out of work since March, having served as assistant manager to Niko Kovac at Wolfsburg. And his arrival will certainly be approved by Mikel Arteta, who previously wanted Briggs to be part of his Arsenal backroom.

Arteta took the reins as Gunners boss in December 2019 when he left his role as a coach to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City. When assembling his Emirates Stadium staff, Arteta was keen for Briggs - serving as an analyst at City - to join him. Yet, according to the Athletic, Arsenal were unsuccessful.

Briggs spent nine years at the Etihad Stadium, working his way from under-18 performance analyst to senior first team performance analyst.

Although denied a switch to Arsenal, Briggs did leave City shortly afterwards to join Monaco. He served as a tactical analysis coach, assistant coach and then became head of football methodology between 2020 and 2022.

He then moved to Wolfsburg to become Kovac's right-hand man. They finished eighth in the Bundesliga in 2022-23 and helped develop Micky van de Ven, who earned a £34 million switch to Tottenham Hotspur. But Kovac was axed in March after a 3-0 loss to Augsburg which left Wolfsburg 14th in the table - with Briggs also leaving.

Yet Briggs arrives at Anfield with an impressive CV and reputation. He’s worked alongside Guardiola and Arteta - and both will be aware of the the abilities he’ll bring to Liverpool.