Liverpool are reportedly pushing to build Andoni Iraola’s coaching staff at Anfield after confirming the Basque as their replacement for Arne Slot.
Iraola was announced as the new head coach on Thursday, and subsequently impressed supporters with an assured and enthusiastic first interview.
The next step is to get him the coaches he requires to begin work on Merseyside, and with rumours flying around that a former Liverpool player could join the backroom team, journalist David Lynch has shared four names who are being actively pursued.
What should Iraola’s first job be as Liverpool boss? 🤔
Liverpool yet to finalise Iraola’s coaching team
When a new manager joins a club in 2026, he tends to bring a whole raft of familiar faces with him to implement his methods.
Slot did it with Sipke Hulshoff, Ruben Peeters and various other staff members, and that will seemingly be no different for Iraola, who, as Lynch explained, is aiming to add assistants Tommy Elphick and Shaun Cooper as well as first-team analyst Tom Webber from Bournemouth.
Pablo De la Torre, the fitness coach who joined the Cherries from Rayo Vallecano along with Iraola, and left with him this summer, also appears likely to join.
“The next step now, they’re not commenting on backroom staff at the moment, all the work is going on behind the scenes to confirm that,” Lynch said on his YouTube channel on Thursday evening.
READ MORE: Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott reacts to Andoni Iraola deciding to join Liverpool
“Of course some of those are still under contract at Bournemouth, so Liverpool are making steps to do that. As I understand it, Tommy Elphick, Shaun Cooper, Pablo De la Torre and Tom Webber are four of the names that are being linked quite heavily and it looks like Liverpool are pursuing.”
Lynch had suggested that a former Liverpool player could join Iraola’s staff earlier in the week, with Thiago Alcantara put forward as a possibility.
And the reporter says that despite the expected arrivals from Bournemouth, there could still be an opportunity for someone who knows the club to join as well.
“Maybe a chance for a former player to be added in there, but we’ll see whether they are capable to do that and of course whether Iraola is happy to sign that off,” he said.
“So, that’s the thing that’s a little bit up in the air there. But they’re working on backroom staff at the moment. No confirmation yet, but that will be the next step.”
Receive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox
