Preferred Liverpool manager move up in air as Iraola hasn’t ‘rejected’ rival club | OneFootball

Liverpool hiring Andoni Iraola is not a certainty after Florian Plettenberg revealed rival interested club Bayer Leverkusen haven’t received a ‘100% rejection’ from the Spaniard yet.

The Reds dropped a bombshell by sacking Arne Slot on Saturday. After winning the Premier League in his first season, the Dutchman led his side to an underwhelming fifth-placed finish last term and it was beginning to look like the players were turning against him.

After his sacking, it immediately became clear the preferred option was departing Bournemouth boss Iraola, who led the Cherries to sixth in the season just gone – just three points below Liverpool.

Reports suggest Iraola has decided to become the next Reds boss, stating that he’s informed Bayer Leverkusen, who are also interested in him, that he won’t be taking the job there.

One said: ‘Bayer Leverkusen received the definitive call in recent hours from Iñaki Ibáñez, head of IDUB Global, and Andoni Iraola himself, informing them that despite positive discussions and a strong presentation of the club’s project, he will not be accepting the position.’

However, insider Plettenberg refuted those claims. Writing on X, the insider has revealed that Iraola hasn’t said no to the German club yet.

Plettenberg wrote: ‘Negotiations between Liverpool and Andoni Iraola are ongoing and advanced. #LFC Bayer 04 Leverkusen have been informed. However, they have not yet received a 100% rejection from Iraola. It now depends solely on Liverpool and Iraola reaching an agreement.’

While reports are suggesting that Iraola will become the new Reds boss, and the fact he hasn’t said no to Leverkusen yet doesn’t mean he won’t, it does not seem things are quite as advanced as is being made out by some.

In any case, Iraola has clearly been lined up as the preferred man to take over from Slot, and it feels likely that they put in the groundwork for that move before the sacking was announced.

That should mean that things run smoothly on the road to the Spaniard being hired as the next Liverpool boss, but things are not 100 per cent confirmed yet.