Liverpool will hold formal talks with Andoni Iraola this week as the club pushes ahead with its search for Arne Slot’s successor. Contact has already been made with Iraola’s camp, and the Bournemouth boss is understood to be the frontrunner for the vacancy.
The timing matters because Liverpool want a new head coach in place before the World Cup begins on 11 June, giving the next appointment as much preparation time as possible. Iraola is available now after leaving Bournemouth, where his final season delivered European football to the Vitality Stadium for the first time. That has made him attractive to Liverpool, who are moving quickly after Slot was dismissed following a review into a troubled campaign.
Virgil van Dijk was the first, and so far only, Liverpool player to respond publicly on Sunday, posting a tribute to Slot on Instagram. In it, he wrote: “We’ll never forget winning the Premier League in our first season together. Thank you, Trainer, and best of luck to you and your family for the future.”
The wider picture is more complicated than a single preferred candidate. Liverpool are also likely to sound out Sebastian Hoeness and Pierre Sage, but both are employed at their current clubs and would require compensation to be prised away. That makes Iraola, who is out of contract, the cleanest option as Hughes and Michael Edwards try to move the process on at speed.
Slot was told his Liverpool career was over about 90 minutes before the club announced the decision at 12.30pm on Saturday. The review that led to his sacking was carried out by Richard Hughes and Michael Edwards, with FSG still backing the pair to lead the football operation after a summer in which Liverpool spent almost £450m on new signings. Players were not consulted during the review, underlining how tightly the decision was handled.
Liverpool’s next move now rests on whether talks with Iraola turn into a formal chase. Milan, Bayer Leverkusen and Crystal Palace have already approached him since he left Bournemouth after three seasons, so the club cannot afford to let the vacancy drift. If Liverpool decide he is the right fit, they can move without waiting on compensation talks. If not, the search becomes slower, costlier and far less certain before 11 June.
