Iraola's Ambitious Start at Anfield: Liverpool's New Era

Andoni Iraola walks into Anfield with his eyes wide open and his ambitions even wider.

A year ago he was the clever disruptor on the south coast, steering AFC Bournemouth to sixth place and into Europe for the first time in their history. Now he steps into the glare of Liverpool, inheriting a squad that finished one rung above his old club and only a season removed from being crowned champions of England.

Iraola’s Anfield leap

He has never been one for grandstanding, but the scale of this move clearly hits him.

“I think you don't need a lot of things to get attracted by Liverpool,” he told the club’s website. “Liverpool is Liverpool.”

Four words that say plenty. The stadium, the noise, the expectations – Iraola knows exactly what he has signed up for.

“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.”

Titles. He did not skirt around the word. Liverpool do not appoint a coach to stabilise; they appoint one to compete.

His first weeks in charge will be unusual. Eleven Liverpool players are heading to the FIFA World Cup, leaving Iraola with a stripped-back senior group and a training pitch that will be heavy on youth and fringe faces.

“The senior players that have played in the World Cup, they’ve been feeling the pressure, they’ve been playing for their countries, I think they need and deserve a rest,” he said.

That rest opens a window.

“And also this allows us to give also important minutes to train more closely with the young players that probably we don’t know as well.

“There are other players probably that haven’t had the minutes, have played for the development squad, have been on loan somewhere, and I think those trainings, those minutes will be very valuable for us to take decisions.”

For a coach who built his Bournemouth side on sharp ideas and smart integration of talent, those early sessions could shape Liverpool’s season as much as any big-name signing.

Diomande in Liverpool’s sights

That big-name signing might arrive on the right flank.

Liverpool have made contact with RB Leipzig over Yan Diomande, according to The Athletic’s David Ornstein, as Iraola and the club begin the search for a successor to Mohamed Salah, who departs Anfield after nine extraordinary seasons.

Diomande is only 19, but his numbers in Germany last season were those of a player in a hurry: 13 goals and 10 assists in 36 games across all competitions, driving Leipzig into the UEFA Champions League. He beat defenders for fun as well – 118 successful dribbles, a staggering 50 more than any other player in the Bundesliga.

No wonder the queue is forming. Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City have also registered interest in the Ivorian after his breakout year.

If he does end up at Anfield, it will actually be a return of sorts. Diomande once bounced around English football on trial, turning out for Chelsea, Crystal Palace and Bournemouth, before a stint at Rangers in Scotland.

“I did not know what was going on,” he told Sky Sports of that period. “For me, it was just funny moving from club to club like this, to see players like [Michael] Olise and [Eberechi] Eze. That was a good experience.”

Those auditions never became a permanent deal. Instead, he landed at Leganes in November 2024, making just 10 LaLiga appearances before RB Leipzig moved quickly last summer. The rise since then has been dizzying.

“Everything went fast,” he said. “This year was amazing for me. To play in the AFCON at 19, to qualify for the World Cup, to play in the Champions League, and I am on my way to the World Cup. I am just proud.”

Pride is one thing. Replacing Salah is something else entirely. If Liverpool push ahead, they will be betting that Diomande’s fearlessness, end product and one-on-one threat can grow under Iraola into something era-defining.

United double down on their template

Across the north-west, Manchester United are plotting a different kind of summer – not a revolution, but a repeat.

United’s chief executive Omar Berrada has made it clear the club intend to mirror last year’s approach to the transfer window after a third-place finish in the Premier League.

The evidence for that strategy sits in the numbers. Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko all arrived ahead of the 2025/26 campaign and each hit double figures in the league. Behind them, goalkeeper Senne Lammens did enough to be named Barclays Transfer of the Season this week.

“I think the template for what we did last summer will be replicated,” Berrada told the club’s Inside Carrington podcast.

“You always go into a window and you don’t know how you’re going to come out of it, but you have to be really prepared.

“You have to have a clear plan, you have to know exactly what positions you’re looking to strengthen and you also have to be prepared for any eventuality. There could be exits we’re not expecting, there could be opportunities in the market that perhaps weren’t there at the beginning of the window.

“So, we have to be ready, we have to be agile and flexible. But we have a clear plan.

“I do think what we saw last season is a good way forward for us, which is we want a mix of experience and youth, we want a mix of players who have demonstrated they can perform in the Premier League and perhaps also players who are doing very well outside the Premier League.”

That blend of proven and potential has already brought one move close to completion. BBC Sport reported earlier in the week that United have agreed a £35m deal with Atalanta for Brazil midfielder Ederson, another sign they are targeting players in their prime who can tilt big games quickly.

The question now is how far that template can stretch. United have stabilised. The next step is closing the gap on the title.

Amad stuns France

While executives talk plans and templates, players are writing their own stories on the pitch.

France, widely tipped to lift the World Cup this summer, were handed a jolt in their warm-up schedule by a familiar Premier League face. Amad, the Manchester United winger, stepped off the bench to deliver an 84th-minute winner for Ivory Coast, silencing a French side packed with talent and expectation.

Rayan Cherki had put France ahead on the stroke of half-time with a brilliant strike, a reminder of why Manchester City moved for him. The game looked to be drifting towards a routine victory for Didier Deschamps’ side.

Then Amad arrived. One chance, one clean, first-time finish into the bottom corner. A friendly in name only suddenly turned into a warning.

Deschamps did not overreact, but he did not brush it aside either.

“It’s a wake-up call, if we needed one,” he said. “I’m not going to dramatise the defeat, just as I wouldn’t have become overly excited if we had won. It’s part of the preparation process.”

Plenty of Premier League interest dotted the pitch. Lucas Digne, Maxence Lacroix, Malo Gusto, Ibrahima Konate and Jean-Philippe Mateta featured for France, while Ivory Coast fielded Ibrahim Sangare and Simon Adingra, both central to their own club sides.

Elsewhere on the international circuit, Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres continued his sharp form in Sweden’s 2-2 draw with Greece. After Liverpool defender Kostas Tsimikas opened the scoring for Greece, Gyokeres bent in a free-kick early in the second half to tilt the game back towards Sweden.

Leeds United’s Gabriel Gudmundsson, Brighton & Hove Albion’s Yasin Ayari and Liverpool’s Alexander Isak all started for Sweden, another reminder of how tightly the Premier League is woven into this World Cup build-up.

From Iraola’s first steps at Anfield to Diomande’s next decision, from United’s transfer blueprint to Amad’s late sting in Marseille air, the pieces are already shifting. The new season will not wait for anyone to catch their breath.