Ajax announced on its official website on Thursday that its former Dutch head coach John Heitinga, has been sacked effective immediately.

According to Ajax's official statement, Heitinga's contract was originally set to expire in the summer of 2027, but due to the team's poor performances, the management had to make the difficult decision to part ways with him.

In addition, Heitinga's assistant, Marcel Keizer, will also be sacked effective immediately.

Goalkeeping coach Fred Grim will temporarily take over as interim first-team head coach until a new head coach is appointed.

Regarding the decision to sack Heitinga, Ajax's technical director Alex Kroes said: "This is a painful decision. But looking back over the past few months, we have to admit that things have developed very differently from what we initially envisioned."

"We've made very little progress and unnecessarily dropped a lot of points. We know that a new coach needs time to adapt to a team that has undergone personnel changes. We've given John that time, but we believe that appointing someone else is the best option for the club."

"We hope to announce the new manager together as soon as possible. We thank John and Marcel for their contributions and wish Fred all the best, starting with Sunday's away game against Utrecht."

Furthermore, according to ESPN Netherlands, following Heitinga's dismissal, Ajax will very likely try to bring back former head coach Erik ten Hag.

Despite knowing that Wolverhampton Wanderers are interested in appointing him, the Ajax management is still trying their best to persuade Ten Hag to return.

There are currently no indications that Heitinga will return to Liverpool as an assistant coach.

On the other hand, the Liverpool ECHO revealed last month that Heitinga's agent strongly urged him to stay at Liverpool, but Heitinga, due to pride, ego, and his deep love for Ajax, couldn't refuse the offer to become the club's head coach and left the Reds.

It's worth noting that this is the second time Heitinga has left Ajax as head coach.

In the summer of 2023, he left Ajax after his interim managerial stint ended and was not given a contract extension.

Ajax's recent humiliating defeat to Galatasaray in the Champions League proved to be the final straw for Heitinga.

About John Heitinga

Born on November 15, 1983, in Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands, the 41-year-old Heitinga is a Netherlands international centre-back who played for Ajax, Atlético Madrid, Everton, Fulham, and Hertha Berlin during his playing career. He represented the Netherlands in the 2010 World Cup final.

After retiring in February 2016, Heitinga was appointed coach of Ajax's youth academy and then head coach of Ajax's U19s team in July of the following year, Since then he has been focusing on his coaching career.

Last January, Heitinga was appointed as Ajax head coach.

During this spell, he helped the club return to consistency, reach the KNVB Cup final and the Europa League Round of 16s play-offs.

In the summer of 2023, Heitinga was appointed assistant manager at West Ham United.

Last summer, Heitinga was appointed assistant coach at Liverpool.

Last season, he helped the club win the Premier League title.

This June, Heitinga returned to Ajax as head coach.

During his five-month tenure, Heitinga managed the Eredivisie giants in 15 matches across all competitions, achieving 5 wins, 5 draws, and 5 losses, with a win percentage of 33.33%.