Andoni Iraola will leave Bournemouth in the summer after three seasons in charge, closing a spell that has put the club within reach of its first European campaign in its 127-year history. Bournemouth host Manchester City on Tuesday at 19:30 BST with two Premier League games left, and they need one point from those matches to secure European football.
Iraola arrived in 2023 to replace Gary O'Neil and has turned Bournemouth into one of the league's hardest teams to beat. They are sixth with two games remaining, four points off a Champions League place, and could still end up in the Conference League depending on how the race above and around them unfolds. If Bournemouth stay sixth, they may even find themselves in the Champions League if Aston Villa beat Freiburg in the Europa League final and finish fifth.
The numbers explain why this matters now. Bournemouth are on a 16-match unbeaten run in the Premier League, their longest top-flight streak of the season, and their last defeat came against Arsenal on 3 January. They have not lost since selling Antoine Semenyo to Manchester City in the January transfer window, and Semenyo will return to the Vitality Stadium on Tuesday in a game that carries more than one layer of significance for both clubs.
For Bournemouth, the next 10 days could settle more than the manager's future. They finish away to Nottingham Forest on Sunday at 16:00 BST, and one point from the final two league matches would be enough to guarantee European football in a season that has already pushed the club into places it has never been. After that, Iraola's departure will leave Bournemouth trying to turn a rare breakthrough into something lasting.
