Iraola inherits Liverpool contract crisis with six first-team players due to leave in 2026

Andoni Iraola has been confirmed as Liverpool’s new head coach on a two-year deal, but the Spaniard’s arrival at Anfield is immediately overshadowed by a contract crisis that mirrors the one that unsettled the club throughout Arne Slot’s final season. Six first-team players are due to become free agents in the summer of 2026, and none have yet signed extensions.

Captain Virgil van Dijk, goalkeeper Alisson Becker, midfielder Curtis Jones, defenders Joe Gomez and Stefan Bajcetic, and Japan international Wataru Endo are all entering the final year of their deals. According to Transfermarkt, the six carry a combined market value of £74 million — a figure that could fall sharply if the club fails to act before their valuations are eroded by their contract situations.

Iraola’s appointment follows Slot’s dismissal after a difficult second season, which came just a year after the Dutchman led Liverpool to the Premier League title. The new head coach also begins without centre-back Ibrahima Konate, who departed as a free agent this summer after talks over a new deal broke down. Konate confirmed his Anfield exit on social media shortly after the club announced his departure.

The situation is a recurring problem at Liverpool. The club faced near-identical uncertainty last season when Van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold all entered the final 12 months of their contracts. Alexander-Arnold ultimately joined Real Madrid in the summer of 2025, with Liverpool receiving a modest fee because the move was completed before the free-agency window opened. Salah and Van Dijk eventually signed short-term extensions, but only after prolonged negotiations in which both players held significant leverage.

With six players now in comparable positions, Iraola and Liverpool’s football operations team face a series of difficult decisions. Selling players before their values decline further would generate transfer income, but moving on several senior figures simultaneously risks destabilising a squad already in transition. Retaining them without new contracts, on the other hand, risks a repeat of the distraction that clouded much of last season.

Iraola spent three years at Bournemouth, earning widespread praise for developing young talent and building a cohesive team on a limited budget. Whether he can apply similar pragmatism to a far more complex squad-management challenge at Liverpool will be tested almost immediately.