Coach of Paris Saint-Germain, Bafodé Diakhaby, has left the club for Liverpool.
Before this, the club had fired set-piece coach, Aaron Briggs halfway through the season, during which the Reds had the worst set-piece performance in Europe’s top five leagues.
Liverpool have let in 12 goals from set plays this season, including one from a corner against Wolves in December. Briggs decided to leave, just two days before Liverpool’s New Year’s Day match against Leeds United ended in a 0-0 draw.
After Aaron Briggs left his role as the set-piece coach, Arne Slot moved Lewis Mahoney, who works as an analyst, to the matchday bench. Mahoney joined Liverpool from Southampton in September and has worked as the team’s first-team set-piece analyst. He mostly does his job at the AXA Training Centre.
The Reds have signed Bafodé Diakhaby, a top youth development coach who has worked for more than ten years at Paris Saint-Germain’s famous academy, helping to train and develop young players.
The 36-year-old has officially started working as the Youth Development Phase, YDP, Academy coach at AXA, and the job offer was confirmed on LinkedIn.
PSG academy is well-known as one of Europe’s top places for developing young talent, and it has helped create famous players like Kingsley Coman, Warren Zaïre-Emery, Adrien Rabiot, and Presnel Kimpembe.
Diakhaby’s role in the early stages meant he was usually the first coach to work with the players, helping to find and nurture the talent that would eventually grow into top-level professionals.
Diakhaby also wrote a farewell message to PSG, sharing it on LinkedIn, “With a lot of gratitude for all those who have shared this journey, both on and off the pitch.
“The next part of the story will happen somewhere else, just like starting a fresh adventure. But some things stay the same: the connections, the friendships, the memories, and the love for the game.
“PSG will always hold a special place in my heart, and I will keep watching them closely with a lot of care and love.”
