Liverpool have reached a verbal agreement with Andoni Iraola for him to become their new manager, according to multiple reports.
Iraola quickly emerged as the frontrunner for the vacant position at Anfield after the Reds parted company with Arne Slot on Saturday.
And the former Bournemouth boss is now poised to sign a two-year contract to replace Slot. Iraola is said to be keen to take assistants Tommy Elphick and Shaun Cooper with him to Anfield, though it is said that Bournemouth have not had any contact from Liverpool regarding that pair.
Liverpool’s statement announcing Slot’s departure referenced the need for a “different approach”. That appeared to be a subtle nod to comments by the departing Mohamed Salah calling for a return to “heavy metal football” following defeat to Aston Villa last month.
Having guided Bournemouth to a stunning sixth-placed finish in 2025-26, Iraola is clearly viewed as the man to deliver that change.
Iraola lost three members of his back four at Bournemouth, including Milos Kerkez to Liverpool last summer. He then saw star winger Antoine Semenyo leave for Manchester City in January. Despite those departures, he still guided Bournemouth to European qualification for the first time in the club’s history.
The Cherries finished just three points behind Liverpool in the race for the fifth and final Champions League spot as the Reds’ Premier League title defence faltered miserably in Slot’s second season in charge.
Bournemouth’s high-intensity brand of football under Iraola won him widespread plaudits and, having announced in April that he would leave the club at the end of the 2025-26 campaign, he was linked with the vacant posts at Crystal Palace and Bayer Leverkusen.
Instead, he will now look to return Liverpool to the ranks of title contenders after they finished 25 points adrift of champions Arsenal.
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