Liverpool initiates formal talks with Iraola following Slot dismissal
The Reds have moved quickly to identify a successor to Arne Slot, with Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola emerging as the leading candidate for the vacant head coach position.
Liverpool will open formal discussions with Andoni Iraola this week regarding the club’s vacant head coach role. The move follows the dismissal of Arne Slot on Saturday, a decision made just one year after the Dutchman guided the club to the Premier League title.
The appointment of a successor is being treated as a priority by the club’s hierarchy. Michael Edwards, chief executive of Fenway Sports Group, and Richard Hughes, Liverpool’s sporting director, have initiated the talks with the aim of having a new manager in place as soon as possible.
The decision to part ways with Slot was driven by a desire for a tactical shift. Edwards and Hughes believe the club requires a more front-foot, aggressive, and urgent style of football. This assessment comes despite Slot’s first season resulting in a league championship, albeit one that ended with Liverpool finishing sixth in the table.
Iraola, the 43-year-old manager of Bournemouth, is considered the leading contender for the position. He guided the Cherries to a sixth-place finish, securing Europa League qualification, a result that placed them just one spot and three points behind Liverpool in the final standings. Iraola had previously announced in April that he would depart Bournemouth at the end of the summer.
There is a pre-existing professional link between the candidate and Liverpool’s sporting director. Hughes served as technical director at Bournemouth when he appointed Iraola in 2023, before leaving the club in 2024 to join Liverpool. Iraola’s managerial career began in Cyprus with AEK Larnaca, followed by spells in Spain with Mirandes and Rayo Vallecano.
The context for this managerial change is stark. Liverpool qualified for next season’s Champions League with 60 points, their lowest tally since the 2015-16 campaign and 25 points behind champions Arsenal. This performance followed a record-breaking summer transfer window in which the club spent £415m on six players, including Alexander Isak for £125m and Florian Wirtz for £116m.
While Iraola has been linked with roles at Crystal Palace and AC Milan, his availability remains clear. He is a former Spain right-back who spent the majority of his playing career at Athletic Bilbao. The club faces the challenge of integrating a new tactical identity with a squad that includes high-profile signings still settling in, alongside older players departing the club.
