Iraola open to Liverpool job but Slot expected to stay on as Reds boss

Andoni Iraola has made clear his ambition to manage Liverpool if Arne Slot is sacked this summer, though Fenway Sports Group are not currently planning to remove the Dutchman despite a deeply disappointing season at Anfield.

Iraola, 43, confirmed his departure from Bournemouth at the end of this season and has since been linked with several high-profile vacancies. Talks with AC Milan are reported to have collapsed, with the Spaniard said to harbour doubts about the move, while Crystal Palace — where Oliver Glasner is set to leave — and Bayer Leverkusen have also registered interest. Despite those options, Iraola has reportedly been candid with both Milan and Palace that his preference is to manage one of Europe’s elite clubs, and he remains open to Liverpool should the situation change.

For now, however, Liverpool are understood to be standing by Slot. The 46-year-old made a remarkable impression in his debut season at Anfield, winning the Premier League title — the club’s first league championship since Jürgen Klopp’s final campaign. This season’s collapse has been severe by comparison: Liverpool lost 20 league games and finished fifth, raising widespread questions about the manager’s future.

Former Liverpool midfielder Jamie Redknapp believes Slot deserves a degree of sympathy but warned that a slow start to next season could prove fatal to his tenure. “Liverpool fans, in terms of a fan base, understand the game really well — for me there’s no one better — and I totally get their frustration with the football this year that’s been served up,” Redknapp told Mirror Football. “It hasn’t been good enough, been too slow, pedestrian, but I would also say there’s a lot of mitigating circumstances.”

Redknapp also pushed back on the narrative that Slot merely inherited a ready-made title-winning squad. “When people say, ‘Well, Slot won it with Klopp’s team’, Klopp didn’t win it with that team. So that’s a little bit unfair,” he said, adding that Slot will need reinforcements and a strong opening run of results to silence his critics next term.

The situation leaves Liverpool in an uncertain position heading into the summer transfer window. Slot retains the club’s backing for now, but the emergence of a manager of Iraola’s calibre as a willing alternative will do little to ease the pressure on the Dutchman as he attempts to rebuild.