Who is Liverpool’s top coaching candidate?

Andoni Iraola emerges as the leading replacement

After Liverpool confirmed they have parted ways with head coach Arne Slot with immediate effect, Andoni Iraola has been identified as the clear favourite to take over the vacant role.

The available reports portray Iraola as the frontrunner in the club’s successor search, suggesting Liverpool view him as the most realistic candidate among those being discussed as the Dutch manager’s exit accelerates.

Slot’s departure itself adds urgency: he had won the Premier League title in his debut season at Anfield, but Liverpool moved to dismiss him following an underwhelming 2025–26 campaign. Slot’s last match was reported as a 1-1 draw to Brentford on the final day of the season.

Why the choice is now pivotal

Coaching appointments following a title-winning year can be handled in different ways—either with a long runway for continuity or with a rapid correction when results slip. Liverpool have opted for the latter.

Iraola’s potential promotion would therefore be less about preserving a winning system and more about providing a new competitive direction after a season that did not match expectations.

What’s next

Liverpool have stated that the process to appoint a successor is under way. The immediate significance for fans and the club is that the managerial search is no longer theoretical: it is already narrowing around Iraola as the leading candidate.

In the meantime, the decision reshapes Liverpool’s offseason planning, because a new manager typically influences everything from recruitment targets to preseason training priorities and tactics before the next campaign.