Andoni Iraola has been officially confirmed as the new head coach of Liverpool Football Club.
Five days after relieving Arne Slot of his duties, the Reds have announced that the vacancy has now been filled by the Spaniard, who arrived on Merseyside this morning from San Sebastian and was later pictured at the AXA Training Centre with sporting director Richard Hughes.
The 43-year-old takes the job at Anfield off the back of three impressive years in charge of Bournemouth, qualifying them for Europe for the first time in their history with a sixth-placed finish in the recently concluded campaign.
Just before 7:30pm on Thursday evening, Liverpool announced on their official website that Iraola has agreed a deal to become their new head coach ahead of the 2026/27 season, with the Spaniard signing a two-year contract with the Reds (as per The Athletic).
The 43-year-old beamed: “[I’m] really excited, really excited, because obviously you know about Liverpool, you know that it’s a big club, a massive club, one of the biggest in the world. 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, but obviously the atmosphere, the supporters, the club, the players, the chance for me to coach top-level players, the chance to fight for titles – I think it cannot be more attractive than this. It’s difficult to find it, so I’m really excited to start.”
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Credit to Liverpool for acting so quickly to secure Iraola so soon after dispensing with Slot, especially when several other clubs across England and Europe had sought to appoint him after he announced in April that he was leaving Bournemouth.
His achievement in leading the Cherries to a sixth-placed finish in 2025/26 was remarkable, especially having lost 75% of his starting defence from the previous campaign and then seeing Antoine Semenyo join Manchester City in January.
That feat was accomplished with a brand of enterprising, high-pressing football that Reds supporters will surely be buzzing to see at Anfield, and those who’ve worked closely with the Spaniard have given glowing testimonies about his personality and his work ethic.
With Liverpool having sewn up the appointment so quickly, it now gives Iraola the entire transfer window and pre-season to begin putting his imprint on the squad in terms of tactics and personnel, and we can’t wait to see his LFC team in action in a few weeks’ time!
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Better have the Kops behind you than against you Iraola should have said. Now, YNWA!
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