Liverpool have appointed Andoni Iraola as their new head coach, signing the former Bournemouth manager on a two-year contract at Anfield.
The club confirmed Arne Slot’s exit on Saturday, just one year after the Dutchman led Liverpool to the Premier League title, prompting an immediate search for his replacement.
Iraola, 43, arrives having overseen Bournemouth’s finest ever top-flight campaign, guiding the Cherries to a sixth-place finish and a place in next season’s Europa League.
That sixth-place finish left Bournemouth just one position and three points behind Liverpool in the final Premier League standings.
The Spaniard had announced in April that he would be leaving Bournemouth at the end of the season, with Crystal Palace and AC Milan both having been linked with his services.
Liverpool qualified for next season’s Champions League despite accumulating just 60 points in the league, their lowest tally since 2015-16 and 25 points behind champions Arsenal.
“Really excited, really excited,” said Iraola. “Because obviously you know about Liverpool, you know that it’s a big club, a massive club, one of the biggest in the world.”
He added: “I think Liverpool gives me the chance to coach top players, and top players give you the chance to fight for titles. To win titles.”
Iraola is understood to want to bring Bournemouth assistants Tommy Elphick and Shaun Cooper with him as part of his coaching setup at Anfield.
The decision to part with Slot was taken by Fenway Sports Group’s chief executive of football Michael Edwards and sporting director Richard Hughes, who wanted a more front-foot and aggressive style of play.
Iraola was originally appointed at Bournemouth when Hughes served as technical director at the Cherries, a role Hughes left in 2024 before joining Liverpool.
Former RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund boss Marco Rose has since been confirmed as Iraola’s replacement at Bournemouth, filling the vacancy he leaves behind.
Liverpool spent £450m last summer, the highest outlay in a single transfer window by a British club, including a British record £125m for striker Alexander Isak from Newcastle.
They also signed Bayer Leverkusen and Germany playmaker Florian Wirtz for £116m as part of that ambitious spending spree aimed at retaining the league title.
Iraola grew up playing beach football in the Basque Country alongside Mikel Arteta and Xabi Alonso, who now manage Arsenal and Chelsea respectively, meaning all three will be Premier League managers next season.
He spent the bulk of his playing career at Athletic Club, working under coaches including Marcelo Bielsa and Ernesto Valverde, before moving to New York City FC in 2015.
At New York City, Iraola played alongside Frank Lampard, Andrea Pirlo and David Villa in a side managed by Patrick Vieira, an experience he credits with shaping his coaching philosophy.
“It was the moment where I realised I was going to retire and I started thinking about the game in a different way,” Iraola said of his time at the club.
His managerial career began with AEK Larnaca, where he guided the Cypriot club to the Europa League group stage for only the second time in their history.
At Spanish second division side CD Mirandes, he steered a team expected to be relegated to a mid-table finish and took them to the Copa del Rey semi-finals, beating Celta Vigo, Sevilla and Villarreal along the way.
He then led Rayo Vallecano to promotion via the play-offs before arriving at Bournemouth in 2023, when the club had just finished 15th in the Premier League.
During last season’s remarkable 18-game unbeaten run with Bournemouth, his side beat Liverpool, Tottenham, Arsenal, Newcastle and Everton, drawing widespread praise for their exciting brand of football.
Pep Guardiola himself held Iraola’s Bournemouth up as an example, saying: “Today, modern football is the way that Bournemouth play.”
Reflecting on experiencing Anfield from the away dugout, Iraola said: “I’ve been the other side – I still remember the goal Chiesa scored at the end of the first game of the season.”
“I want now to feel this from the other side,” he continued, expressing his desire to earn the trust and celebration of the Liverpool supporters as quickly as possible.
