Liverpool appoints Andoni Iraola as their new manager
Liverpool have appointed former Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola as their new head coach on a two-year contract.
The 43-year-old Spaniard replaces Arne Slot, who was sacked just six days ago following a calamitous Premier League title defence that saw the Reds slump to a disappointing campaign. Liverpool moved with remarkable speed to secure Iraola, acting swiftly to stave off interest from major European clubs including AC Milan and Bayer Leverkusen.
Iraola arrives at Anfield with a burgeoning reputation for high-intensity, front-foot football—a style the Liverpool hierarchy believes is essential to restore the identity forged during the Jurgen Klopp era. Under Slot, Liverpool faced mounting criticism for passive, lacklustre performances that ultimately cost the Dutchman his job after a demanding season featuring 12 league defeats.
The appointment reunites Iraola with Liverpool’s sporting director Richard Hughes, the man who originally brought the Basque tactician to English football with Bournemouth in 2023. Hughes, alongside Fenway Sports Group’s chief executive of football Michael Edwards, led a comprehensive review of the first team before identifying Iraola as their sole choice to fix what they deemed a fractured squad.
”You know about Liverpool, you know that it’s a big club, a massive club, one of the biggest in the world,” Iraola told the club’s official website. “But feeling inside and understanding a little bit more of this club, I always thought it’s a special club. You don’t need a lot of things to get attracted by Liverpool. Liverpool is Liverpool.”
Iraola becomes only the second Spanish manager in Liverpool’s history, following Rafa Benitez. He takes over on Merseyside after a spectacular final season on the south coast, where he guided Bournemouth to an unprecedented sixth-place finish and historic European qualification despite working with vastly inferior resources compared to the division’s heavyweights.
