Feyenoord have announced Giovanni van Bronckhorst as the team's new coach. Sipke Hulshoff will be his assistant and will play a key role in the technical structure. Van Bronckhorst signed a two-year contract, with the option to extend for a further year.
With the choice of Van Bronckhorst, Feyenoord opts for a coach who has already brought success to the club, having won the KNVB-Beker twice, the Johan Cruijff Schaal twice and the league in 2017, after an eighteen-year absence. His career has included spells at Guangzhou R&F, Rangers FC, Besiktas and, most recently, being Arne Slot's assistant at Liverpool.
Hulshoff, who was previously Feyenoord's under-21 coach and Slot's assistant, will also have a prominent role in the new coaching staff. New general manager Robert Eenhoorn and technical director Devy Rigaux decided to fire Robin van Persie, who had been in charge of the team for a year and a half. Rigaux commented: 'I have followed Giovanni's career for many years. He is an expert and a personality. His vast experience, combined with Feyenoord's DNA and the ambition we felt in our conversations, makes us believe he is the right person to take the club to a new level.'
Van Bronckhorst's return marks a new phase at Feyenoord, which aims to build on its sporting ambitions with a coach who knows the club's culture well and has international experience. Rigaux also praised the partnership between Van Bronckhorst and Hulshoff, which developed while working together in England, noting that it offers Feyenoord a pair of coaches with a winning mentality and in-depth knowledge of the club.