Andoni Iraola has already saved Liverpool's season | OneFootball

Andoni Iraola will want to be challenging for the Premier League title this season.

Last term, the Spaniard managed to get Bournemouth all the way up to sixth and into Europe for the first time in their history.

Obviously, he massively over achieved with the Cherries as their signing of Rayan during the January transfer window helped them plug the gap left by Antoine Semenyo's departure.

However, with Liverpool, he has even more resources at his disposal and much better players to choose from so, in reality, he should thrive at Anfield this term.

But, as with everything in football, things can change in an instant but, at the moment, it feels like Iraola is doing everything in his power to get the Reds back on track and back to the top of the Premier League table.

That is, especially after what he's just managed to do at Anfield.

Andoni Iraola made a good enough impression on Dominik Szoboszlai to make him extend his contract

One of the main problems Liverpool have faced over the last couple of years is that their players have been leaving as free agents.

Trent Alexander-Arnold and Ibrahima Konate have both done that in the last couple of seasons and, with Curtis Jones' deal also coming to an end in June 2027 it feels like history could end up repeating itself.

However, one player that won't be leaving Anfield any time soon is Dominik Szoboszlai.

The Hungarian has just extended his contract by an extra three years, keeping him in Liverpool until at least 2031.

If Arne Slot was still the one in charge, it doesn't feel like this deal would have been done so soon, especially because he used him as a right-back on multiple occasions.

But, since Iraola has been at the helm, he's clearly made a good impression on Szoboszlai as his agent has claimed that the Spaniard's personality and style of play helped Szoboszlai 'a lot' while making a decision on his contract.

"Don't forget that Dome had two years left on his contract, so even without an extension, he would still have been a Liverpool player," Mathias Esterhazy said to WinWin Sports.

"So this doesn't change much. But of course, the new manager's personality, his style of football, and his ideas about the game have helped a lot. And I think we can all be very, very pleased with what has happened in the last few

Andoni Iraola just saved Liverpool's season by helping convince Dominik Szoboszlai to stay at Anfield

It goes without saying that Szoboszlai was Liverpool's best player last term.

The Hungarian was the master of the Reds' midfield and he was also one of their best attackers on multiple occasions.

The fact that he played as a defender, midfielder and an attacker proves how good he is and how essential he is to the way that Liverpool play.

If there was even a slight chance that Szoboszlai could have exited Liverpool this summer, his exit would've been catastrophic.

That's because, even though Iraola and Richard Hughes would have probably been able to source a replacement, they still wouldn't have been anywhere near as good as the Hungarian.

Obviously, there's no knowing what the future has in store but, the fact that Iraola is already making a good impression on his players makes it feel like Fenway Sports Group got it right by appointing him as their manager.