Andoni Iraola Takes Charge at Liverpool: A New Era Begins

Andoni Iraola steps into the storm with a smile. Liverpool’s new head coach has swapped Bournemouth’s steady rise for the raw expectation of Anfield, and he knows exactly what he has walked into.

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

That line says plenty. This is a manager who took Bournemouth to sixth in the Premier League last season and into Europe for the first time in the club’s history. Now he inherits a side that finished just one place above his old team, but only a year removed from being crowned champions of England. The step up is vast, the demands even bigger, and Iraola is leaning into it.

“The atmosphere, the supporters, the club, the players, the chance for me to coach top-level players, the chance to fight for titles,” he said. “I think it cannot be more attractive than this. It’s difficult to find it. So, really excited to start.”

Iraola’s first challenge: build without his stars

Liverpool’s summer is complicated by the World Cup. Eleven of their players are away at the tournament, which tears a sizeable chunk out of Iraola’s core group just as he tries to imprint his ideas.

He is not complaining. He is recalibrating.

“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 pause opens the door for others. While the established names recharge, Iraola intends to get to work with the players who usually live in the shadows.

“This allows us to give also important minutes to train more closely with the young players that probably we don’t know as well,” he added. “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 some of Liverpool’s fringe and academy players, this pre-season will be an audition in front of a manager who has already proved he can elevate overlooked talent.

Liverpool move for Diomande as Salah successor

One major decision is already looming over Anfield. Mohamed Salah is leaving after nine seasons, taking with him goals, assists and a legacy that defined an era. Liverpool need a new right winger. They are not shopping in the bargain aisle.

Yan Diomande has surged to the top of that list. The 19-year-old RB Leipzig winger, fresh from a breakout season in Germany, has drawn a crowd across Europe. According to reports from The Athletic’s David Ornstein, Liverpool have made contact with Leipzig over a potential deal.

The numbers explain the interest. Thirteen goals and 10 assists in 36 appearances across all competitions. A key role in driving Leipzig into the Champions League. And then there is the dribbling: 118 successful take-ons in the Bundesliga, 50 more than any other player in the division. Those are the sort of metrics that make recruitment departments sit up.

Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City are also circling, which tells its own story. If he does end up at Anfield, it will not be his first brush with English football.

Diomande’s journey has already taken in trials at Chelsea, Crystal Palace and Bournemouth, plus a spell at Rangers. None of those stays turned into a permanent deal. He eventually signed for Leganes in November 2024, made just 10 LaLiga appearances, and then exploded after Leipzig moved for him last summer.

“Everything went fast,” he told Sky Sports, reflecting on a whirlwind year. “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.”

Now he is on the radar as a potential heir to Salah’s right flank. For Iraola, a coach who thrives with direct, aggressive wide players, Diomande would be a statement first signing. For Liverpool, it would be the first big swing of a new era.

United double down on their transfer blueprint

Across the North West, Manchester United are plotting their own summer, and the message from the boardroom is clear: copy and paste last year.

United finished third in the Premier League and hit on a series of major signings. Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko all reached double figures for league goals after arriving before the 2025/26 season. Behind them, goalkeeper Senne Lammens impressed so much he was named Barclays Transfer of the Season this week.

Chief executive Omar Berrada has no intention of ripping that up.

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

He knows transfer windows rarely follow a straight line.

“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,” he said. “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.”

That plan blends profile and potential.

“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.”

The first move of this window is already lined up. BBC Sport reported earlier this week that United have agreed a £35m deal with Atalanta for Brazil midfielder Ederson. If last summer’s template holds, he will not be the last carefully targeted addition.

Amad stuns France as World Cup countdown bites

While executives talk strategy, players are already sharpening their edges for the World Cup. France arrive at the tournament as many people’s favourites. Ivory Coast just reminded them what can happen when you switch off.

In a warm-up match that was supposed to reinforce French confidence, it was a Manchester United winger who ripped up the script. Rayan Cherki, of Manchester City, had given France the lead on the stroke of half-time with a brilliant strike. The game looked under control.

Then Amad stepped off the bench.

With six minutes left, he found his moment, guiding a first-time finish into the bottom corner for a superb 84th-minute winner. It was a goal of calm precision, delivered in a game full of familiar Premier League faces: Lucas Digne, Maxence Lacroix, Malo Gusto, Ibrahima Konate, Jean-Philippe Mateta, Ibrahim Sangare and Simon Adingra all featured.

France coach Didier Deschamps did not rage. He recalibrated.

“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.”

The warning is there all the same. One loose performance, one lapse, and the margins will punish even the favourites.

Gyokeres on target as Sweden trade blows

Elsewhere in the build-up, Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres underlined his growing status with a goal in Sweden’s 2-2 draw against Greece.

Kostas Tsimikas, the Liverpool defender, had opened the scoring for Greece, but Gyokeres bent in a free-kick early in the second half to haul Sweden level. It was another reminder of his set-piece threat and confidence in front of goal.

Leeds United’s Gabriel Gudmundsson, Brighton & Hove Albion’s Yasin Ayari and Liverpool’s Alexander Isak all started for Sweden, a line-up that underlines just how tightly Premier League interests are woven into this World Cup.

From Iraola’s first steps at Anfield to United’s transfer plotting and Amad’s late winner against France, the stories are already stacking up. The season may be on pause, but the power plays have started.