A little less than two years later, his first job took him to Cyprus, where he led AEK Larnaca to the Cypriot Super Cup title.
Iraola then returned to Spain and second-division side Mirandes. During 2019-20, his sole season there, they beat Celta Vigo, Sevilla and Villarreal en route to reaching the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey for only the second time in the club’s history.
Mirandes’ fairy-tale run was halted in the last four by the eventual champions – a Real Sociedad team spearheaded by a certain Alexander Isak.
Three eye-catching years in charge of Rayo Vallecano followed.
Iraola led the Madrid club to promotion to La Liga at the first time of asking, and their fearless, relentless brand of football in the top tier earned victories over Barcelona and Real Madrid, as well as plaudits and admiring glances from elsewhere in the game.
And in June 2023, AFC Bournemouth made their move to bring Iraola to the Premier League.
While successfully transplanting the intense style and exciting philosophy that made his Rayo team so watchable, Iraola combined style with substance to lead Bournemouth on three seasons of steady progress.
Successive finishes of 12th, ninth and sixth in the Premier League provide proof of that, with his final campaign at Vitality Stadium culminating in the Cherries achieving European qualification for the first time in their history.
Iraola’s intention to depart Bournemouth at the conclusion of 2025-26 was announced in April and his feats ensured he left as a hugely popular figure at the south-coast club.
Now, he takes the reins at Anfield, succeeding Arne Slot and becoming Liverpool’s 10th permanent head coach/manager of the Premier League era.
