Iraola Era Begins at Liverpool: Frantic Week Ahead

Liverpool’s new season starts with a split focus and no room for hesitation. On one side, a Premier League opener at St James’ Park. On the other, a transfer window that still looks worryingly unfinished.

Andoni Iraola walks into all of it at once.

Iraola’s high-wire start

The Spaniard makes his Premier League bow with Liverpool on Sunday away at Newcastle, a fixture already loaded with narrative. Alexander Isak faces his former club, the backdrop is hostile, and the expectation around Iraola is heavy.

He has arrived at Anfield under pressure to fix what Arne Slot could not. Slot’s second season delivered Champions League qualification but fell well short of a genuine title push. That is the bar now: not just top four, but a return to the sharp end of the title race.

To get there, Iraola knows he needs more than ideas. He needs players.

Liverpool’s squad looks light in key areas, and the club is preparing for a frantic final week of the summer window as they scramble to arm their new head coach properly before the deadline on September 1.

Endrick turns Liverpool down

One potential solution is already off the table.

Endrick, the Real Madrid forward who shone on loan at Lyon last season, has rejected interest from Liverpool to fight for his place at the Bernabeu under Jose Mourinho, according to ESPN.

The 20-year-old produced eight goals and eight assists in 21 appearances in France, returning to Spain with momentum and a genuine case to demand more minutes. Then Real Madrid signed Yan Diomande for around £100million and the path narrowed.

Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappe are locked in as starters, two of the three attacking spots effectively ring-fenced. Diomande is expected to claim the remaining berth on the right. Behind them waits Rodrygo, currently injured but still firmly in Mourinho’s plans.

Endrick has looked at that queue and decided to stay in it.

From Liverpool’s perspective, that decision stings. He would have been an obvious fit for Iraola’s needs: cover through the middle for Isak and an option on the right flank, where a gaping hole remains after Mohamed Salah’s abrupt exit this summer.

The club have already tested the market in that area. A £50m bid for Brighton winger Yankuba Minteh has been knocked back, with Liverpool expected to return with an improved offer. The search for a right-sided forward is not going away; if anything, it is becoming the defining question of their window.

“We will definitely sign some players”

Iraola has not tried to disguise the situation.

Speaking on Friday, he admitted his squad looks “thin” and gave a clear promise that Liverpool will act before the deadline. The message was blunt: business is coming.

“We will definitely sign some players. Some deals you have to wait until the end,” he told Sky Sports. “But the end is the important picture, the one we will have on September 1, because it is true that we are still quite thin.”

The club have already moved once, bringing in Ronald Araujo on loan from Barcelona after Joe Gomez picked up an injury in pre-season. It was a necessary move, but it has not settled the wider debate over depth, especially on the right side of defence.

Conor Bradley’s fitness issues leave right-back exposed, while Curtis Jones has departed for Inter Milan, stripping more flexibility from midfield. Those two factors push Liverpool towards the market again, with a new midfielder a realistic target before the window closes.

Still, the biggest vacancy remains on that right flank.

Rio Ngumoha is expected to see more minutes there, a chance for the youngster to step into a role that suddenly looks enormous. Victor Munoz can also operate on that side, even if it is not his preferred wing. Between them, they offer internal solutions, but not yet the kind of guaranteed output Salah once delivered almost by default.

That is the tension Iraola walks into at Newcastle: a team still under construction, a squad still incomplete, and a fanbase waiting to see whether the final week of August matches the ambition the club keeps talking about.

The season starts now. The real question is whether Liverpool’s squad will be ready by the time the window slams shut.