Andoni Iraola was seen leaving Liverpool’s training ground after finalising a deal to become the new head coach of the Premier League giants.
The Spaniard is expected to join on an initial two year deal to replace Arne Slot, who parted company with the Reds last week just 12 months on from winning the club’s 20th top-flight title.
Iraola spent three years with Bournemouth and led them to a first ever Europa League place last season, finishing just three points behind his new club.
The 43-year-old had flown in on a Thursday morning flight from San Sebastian to Liverpool John Lennon Airport to put the finishing touches to the deal.
The jet, an Embraer Phenom 300e, touched down at the airport at 10:45am.
‘An arrival from San Sebastián on a cloudy day in Liverpool,’ Liverpool John Lennon Airport teased on social media.
Andoni Iraola, left, was seen leaving Liverpool’s training centre on Thursday ahead of his appointment as the club’s new head coach
Iraola was seen smiling as he was driven out of the training centre after finalising the deal
The Spaniard had earlier arrived in Liverpool on a private jet ahead of his unveiling
Iraola was later seen leaving Liverpool’s AXA Training Centre, with confirmation expected shortly of his appointment.
Iraola will be taking charge of a team playing in the Champions League for the first time, with his previous experiences coming at AEK Larnaca, Mirandes and Rayo Vallecano.
He does have experience of the competition as a player with Athletic Bilbao, where he was the captain under Marcelo Bielsa, and also played for Spain as a bit-part star during their golden age.
Iraola finished his career as a team-mate of Frank Lampard, Andrea Pirlo and David Villa at New York City FC, who are part of Manchester City’s multi-club network.
A proponent of heavy pressing and fast transitions, Iraola would seem to fit the ‘heavy metal’ playing style which Jurgen Klopp introduced and for which the departed Mohamed Salah yearned.
Despite Iraola’s imminent unveiling, a former Liverpool forward put forward five names he believed should have been considered prior to choosing the Spaniard.
Dean Saunders, who won the FA Cup with Liverpool in 1992, insisted the club should have attempted to first bring back Klopp.
Saunders claimed Liverpool needed to focus on bringing in a ‘proven winner’, as he reeled off a further four names from his managerial wishlist.
He suggested Pep Guardiola, who recently stepped down as Man City manager, Jose Mourinho, PSG head coach Luis Enrique and Brazil boss Carlo Ancelotti as others Liverpool should have attempted to lure to the club.
The former Bournemouth boss is expected to join on an initial two year deal to replace Arne Slot
Iraola will succeed Slot, left, who was sacked as Liverpool’s head coach last week
‘You think of people who know how to win football matches and they know how to take the game to the opposition. They know how to break parking the bus down every week. They know how to do it,’ Saunders said on talkSPORT.
‘Liverpool can pay the manager whatever they want. They’re the richest club, not the richest club, but they’ve got the biggest wage. So I would think if we’re going to sack Slot, who can we get? Do you think we can get Jurgen Klopp back? Let’s try him.
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‘We can’t get Jurgen Klopp, what about Pep Guardiola? Can we get Pep? This is what I’d start thinking. If we got any of them two, we’re going to win. We’re going to win games and leagues.
‘Can’t get them, they’ve said no. Pep says, “no, I’m having a couple of years off.” What about Enrique? No, doesn’t want to leave PSG.
‘What about Mourinho? What about Mourinho? Proven winner. Would you take Mourinho? Proven winner, not the manager of Bournemouth. He would never manage Bournemouth.
‘None of those managers would manage clubs halfway up the league. So I would go through the list. Ancelotti, would he leave Brazil at the end of the World Cup and come manage us?
‘I would go through that list before I started going into [Xabi] Alonso, [Steven] Gerrard, Iraola, young managers. I would start at the people who know how to win football matches.’
