Liverpool have appointed Andoni Iraola as Arne Slot’s successor on a two-year contract.

Iraola left Bournemouth at the end of the season, having guided the Cherries to sixth place and European qualification for the first time in their history with a place in the Europa League.

The Basque manager replaces Slot, who departed the Merseyside club on Saturday after a disappointing defence of their Premier League title, finishing fifth.

“Really excited, really excited,” he told Liverpoolfc.com. “Because obviously you know about Liverpool, you know that it’s a big club, a massive club, one of the biggest in the world.

“But feeling inside and understanding a little bit more of this club, I always thought it’s a special club.

“You don’t need a lot of things to get attracted by Liverpool. Liverpool is Liverpool.

“But obviously the atmosphere, the supporters, the club, the players, the chance for me to coach top-level players, the chance to fight for titles. I think it cannot be more attractive than this. It’s difficult to find it. So, really excited to start.”

Analysis: Why Bournemouth have named Andoni Iraola

Perhaps crucially, Liverpool Technical Director Richard Hughes worked with Iraola during his time at Bournemouth before joining the Reds before the 2024/25 season.

Hughes has seen the 43-year-old enhance his reputation as one of the most impressive managers in the Premier League with a superb second season at Bournemouth, finishing the campaign with an 18-match unbeaten league run that was the longest of any team in the division in 2025/26 by three matches.

Iraola’s achievement came despite losing on-loan goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, who had helped Bournemouth finish with the second-best defensive record outside of the top four in 2024/25, before the start of the season and three of the elite defenders who had played in front of him: Dean Huijsen joined Real Madrid for £50 million, Milos Kerkez moved to Liverpool for £40m and Illia Zabarnyi left for Paris Saint-Germain for £54.5m.

Forward Dango Ouattara, who contributed seven goals and four assists in the 2024/25 Premier League, then became Brentford’s record signing for £42m, while Antoine Semenyo was the third-highest scorer in the top flight when the winger joined Manchester City for about £65m in January.

Those sales and the signings Iraola subsequently brought in, including outstanding defender Adrien Truffert, who cost £14.4m from Rennes, highlighted Iraola’s ability to develop players and make shrewd deals.

Junior Kroupi, Rayan and Veljko Milosavljevic were all named in the 2026 Golden Boy top 100 shortlist last week for the best players aged under 21 across Europe.

Only Premier League top scorer Erling Haaland averaged more league goals per game last season than Kroupi, who finished on 13 in the division, while Rayan is in Brazil’s World Cup squad after making his senior debut earlier this year and Milosavljevic is a newcomer for finals participants Serbia.

Andoni Iraola tactics: What Liverpool fans can expect

Liverpool had not been expected to sack Slot – a Premier League champion in his debut season at the helm in 2024/25 – so abruptly, but fan disquiet over the Dutchman’s perceived conservative tactics had long been evident.

Bournemouth have been known for a front-footed style that is certain to be more pleasing to fans at Anfield if Iraola can recreate it with a team aiming for title contention who are also expected to progress in the Champions League.

Analyst Adrian Clarke has called Bournemouth “brilliantly coached with the clearest of identities” who use “high-tempo, high-risk tactics with equal enthusiasm against teams at the top or bottom of the table”.

“They play direct, positive football,” Clarke observed for the Premier League. “It consistently stems from an insatiable work ethic out of possession in every match.

“Aggressive and ferocious in the way they press, Bournemouth are masters at turning the ball over before springing their attacks.”

Iraola preferred a consistent 4-2-3-1, which Lola Katz-Roberts, of the Goal Difference Podcast, has backed to suit Liverpool’s squad alongside his commitment to attacking.

“Milos Kerkez, who thrived under Iraola’s stewardship, has looked out of place in Liverpool’s strangely ponderous set-up,” Katz-Roberts told BBC Sport, adding that Slot’s “pedestrian football” is “an alien and limiting concept” for the players.

“Jeremie Frimpong, on the other flank, may find himself the biggest beneficiary of Iraola’s appointment, released to attack at will down the right side.

“Dominik Szoboszlai, who has cut a forlorn figure leading a one-man press at times this season, will surely be suited by a higher intensity.

“And perhaps most importantly, for Liverpool’s second-most-expensive signing of [last] summer – who never quite looked like he fitted in in the midfield or attack last season – Iraola’s preferred formation should provide Florian Wirtz with the platform needed to establish himself as one of the league’s leading lights.”

Andoni Iraola stats

Seven-cap Spain right-back Iraola made more than 500 appearances for Athletic Club and also represented New York City FC in their first two Major League Soccer seasons during a senior playing career between 2000 and 2016.

In his first managerial role, Iraola took Cypriot club AEK Larnaca to the Europa League proper in 2018/19. He then took Spanish second-tier side Mirandes to the Copa del Rey semi-finals for the first time in their history, repeating the trick with Rayo Vallecano, with whom he achieved promotion to La Liga in the first of his three seasons in charge in 2020/21.

Liverpool supporters may have to be patient for Iraola’s style to provide results and be prepared for patches of poor form if his seasons at Bournemouth are any measure.

Bournemouth won two of his first eight matches in charge in all competitions, then went 12 games unbeaten and endured a stretch of one win in eight league fixtures in 2024/25.

After losing the season opener at Anfield last season, Bournemouth won five times on an eight-match unbeaten league run but then went 11 games and more than two months without victory to stand 15th before that extraordinary sequence from January 7.

Andoni Iraola: Why Liverpool boss is ‘incredible’

Semenyo attributed his success at Bournemouth to Iraola “allowing me to be myself”. “We’ve made the game plan clear and what we need to do and, in that framework, he’s allowed me to express myself and be creative,” the Ghana international explained to Bournemouth’s website.

“That’s why my game is flourishing. Running is so important for him too, and it’s all come together really well.”

USMNT international Tyler Adams credited Iraola with having a “huge influence on myself and the team” and called his departure “sad”.

“I think he’s going to go on to do incredible things… it’s pretty special to be able to leave a club in a situation like this, so we wish him all the best,” said Adams.

Iraola’s Bournemouth record (source: Transfermarkt)