Andoni Iraola has walked into Liverpool's AXA Training Centre for the first time as head coach, and among the players he found waiting for him was Harvey Elliott — a 23-year-old whose Anfield future had seemed uncertain after a loan spell at Aston Villa collapsed. Iraola, who replaced the sacked Arne Slot, will have most of his first-team squad reporting back on July 14, giving him just over a month before Liverpool's Premier League opener away at Newcastle on August 23. But he has already begun work with those recovering from injury, including Elliott, Stefan Bajcetic, Conor Bradley, Hugo Ekitike, Wataru Endo and Giovanni Leoni.
For Elliott, the arrival of a new manager represents a fresh start. The midfielder made 28 appearances under Slot last season — a sharp drop from the 53 and 46 he played in the final two campaigns under Jurgen Klopp — and was loaned to Aston Villa in September 2025 with a £35m obligation to buy if he played 10 Premier League games. He played only nine times and was omitted from the squad for much of the campaign. Now back at Liverpool, he will be desperate to leave his mark.
“Andoni Iraola begins Liverpool tenure, telling Harvey Elliott and squad they are all new signings.”
Iraola, speaking in his maiden interview as head coach, made clear that no player has an advantage or disadvantage. "For me, and I will tell them, [they] are all new signings," he said. "I think we have a lot of quality in our squad, and [I'm] really looking forward to working with them." The Spaniard has already been assessing the squad, and he will be joined by first-team coaches Tommy Elphick and Shaun Cooper — who were with him at Bournemouth — and assistant coach Pablo de la Torre, who has worked with him in Cyprus, at Rayo Vallecano and at Bournemouth.
Iraola is known for an intense, front-foot style of play. A Bournemouth source told BBC Sport last month: "Andoni likes to take all of the sessions and be in the thick of it as opposed to leaving it to others." In a clip on Bournemouth's YouTube channel, Iraola — wearing a microphone during a training session in Marbella — can be heard shouting: "Get really aggressive. Get used to this, because we will do this every week…" De la Torre, speaking to Spanish publication AS, described Iraola as "incredibly intelligent" with a "rare emotional stability" and a "unique" ability to read the game. "He filters information so players can digest it easily and apply it every week," De la Torre said.
But both he and Iraola will face a new challenge: juggling Premier League games with midweek Champions League fixtures. De la Torre said the key is "building a game model and team identity where players truly believe in the coach's idea." That imperative was underscored by Mohamed Salah's public criticism of Liverpool's style under Slot at the end of last season — criticism that, while not directly leading to Slot's sacking, was damning. For Elliott and every other player, the message from Iraola is clear: start from scratch, and prove yourself.