Romano wrote: "Andoni Iraola, set to become the next Liverpool manager. The negotiations will move forward quickly to get it done with formal steps but Liverpool decision made. Iraola will be the next manager."
The 43-year-old Basque manager leaves Bournemouth as a free agent when his contract expires this summer, having chosen not to extend his deal despite the club's Europa League qualification.
Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes was the man who brought Iraola to the south coast in 2023 — their working relationship and shared vision of football made him the standout candidate from the moment the search began.
Iraola guided Bournemouth to sixth place this season, finishing one position and just two points below Liverpool, and leading the club to European football for the first time in their history. He had turned down approaches from Crystal Palace, AC Milan and Bayer Leverkusen in order to wait for the right opportunity, which Liverpool now represent.
The appointment aligns with the club's stated desire to return to a more aggressive, front-foot, pressing style of football — the philosophy associated with Jürgen Klopp's era and one that Slot's possession-based approach was deemed not to replicate sufficiently. Liverpool won 20 trophies in the Klopp years and Slot won one — the Premier League title in his first season — before a second campaign of regression proved decisive.
Slot was not informed of the decision until Saturday morning, having been given no forewarning during the final weeks of the season. The club's joint ownership statement described it as "difficult" and "not taken lightly," while making clear that "change is necessary in order for the club to keep moving forward."
Hughes — who recruited both Slot and Iraola, the latter at Bournemouth — will now work with his new head coach to reshape a squad that finished 25 points behind champions Arsenal and faces a summer of significant transition.