Afellay to PSV: Ooijer Departs as Assistant Coach

Ibrahim Afellay returns to PSV as assistant coach to head coach Peter Bosz. The 53-time Dutch international is the successor to André Ooijer in Eindhoven, who is leaving the club with immediate effect.

Afellay signs a two-and-a-half-year contract with the reigning national champions. He will join the PSV staff at the training camp in Estepona, Spain, from January 2 to 6.

Under Bosz’s leadership, Afellay hopes to take the next steps in his development as a trainer. “I think Peter Bosz is a very interesting trainer. Moreover, I am very pleased with the way PSV is managed.”

In recent years, Afellay has gained experience as an assistant coach in, among others, the youth academy of Feyenoord (as an assistant to Robin van Persie, among others) and with the Netherlands under 19.

De Utrechter played 221 official matches for PSV between 2004 and 2020, where he also received his youth training. Afellay also played for FC Barcelona, Olympiacos, Schalke 04 and Stoke City.

The news also means that Afellay (39) will continue his work as an analyst in the television program NOS Studio Football has stopped.

Ooijer previously worked as an assistant at PSV between 2020 and 2023 and returned to the coaching staff last summer. The former international was last in the dugout next to Bosz on Sunday afternoon at FC Utrecht-PSV (1-2).

“It was not an easy decision, I struggled quite a bit with it,” said Ooijer. “But one thing always comes first for me: being honest with myself and with the people around me. And the honest conclusion is that in this position I no longer feel the drive and pleasure that is needed to give it my all every day.”