Andoni Iraola will be leaving Bournemouth in the summer and that means he’s set to become one of the most in-demand managers on the market.
Iraola has done a fine job over the past three seasons with Bournemouth, achieving club-record points tallies in the Premier League, but has failed to agree terms for a new contract. The 43-year-old will surely have his pick of suitors in the summer – both in England and his native Spain, as well as potentially further afield – as his next job awaits.
But which potential next step would most suit Iraola as he continues building his managerial reputation?
5) Arsenal
We’ll start with one with a lot of big ‘ifs’ attached. A month from now, it could well be that Mikel Arteta has finally led Arsenal to the Premier League title and any idea of him being replaced would be redundant.
But the prospect of Arsenal bottling it again begs the question of whether they’ll need to make a change in the dugout should they emerge without a trophy from a season which promised so much.
In that case, Iraola could be a prime candidate to replace his compatriot. But Arsenal would surely opt for a proven winner if they have to replace Arteta; Iraola is not that yet and would find himself under immediate pressure to deliver.
4) Real Madrid
If Alvaro Arbeloa isn’t the man to lead Real Madrid for the long term, then fellow former Spanish right-back Iraola may have an outside chance of landing one of the biggest jobs in world football.
During his last job in Spanish football, Iraola led Rayo Vallecano from the second tier to the top flight, also reaching a Copa del Rey semi-final.
A move to Madrid would reunite Iraola with Dean Huijsen, one of his Bournemouth centre-backs last season.
But it could be a risky choice given how quickly the role swallowed up Xabi Alonso, a coach who had already experienced success with Bayer Leverkusen – another club tipped as an option for Iraola, incidentally – and had history as a player in Madrid.
It means the shortlist to replace Arbeloa – if necessary – could contain plenty of names either unconvinced of the security of a move to Madrid, or unconvincing in their own ability.
If interested, Iraola may be worth a punt, although he doesn’t yet have the essential experience of managing big egos, having instead turned plenty of Bournemouth prospects into players with massive potential before their moves to bigger clubs. The opposite job, you might say.
3) Manchester United
With the prospects of Michael Carrick earning the permanent Man Utd job fadingthe search continues for Ruben Amorim’s permanent successor.
Iraola is likely to at least be considered at Old Trafford. It’s been a decade since United appointed a manager whose most recent job was elsewhere in the Premier League, but they could be tempted to change that. The Moyes memories are surely fading now.
United will hope to have Champions League football on offer after their resurgence under Carrick, but that does mean they could attract a better class of manager.
2) Athletic Bilbao
The sentimental choice for Iraola would be a return to the Basque Country, where he played more than 500 games for Athletic Bilbao.
With Ernesto Valverde finally hanging up his whistle, Athletic are on the hunt for their next manager ahead of next season.
Iraola was fiercely loyal to them as a player, only leaving when he was 33 for New York City. The question now is whether they can keep up with his potential as a coach.
European football is unlikely to be on the agenda for the mid-table La Liga side next season. Obviously, that’s not a level he has reached with Bournemouth either, but it’s where his aspirations should lie for the next stage of his career.
But a return to Spain may suit his family and tug at his heart-strings, and there is real talent in the Athletic squad that Iraola could nurture, which would play to his very obvious strengths.
1) Newcastle United
There’s a growing sense that Eddie Howe may have taken Newcastle as far as he can.
Newcastle have picked up a habit of throwing away leads this seasonwhich has undone much of their progress as they struggle to put together two good seasons in a row.
But Howe has done plenty of good in the Newcastle hotseat too. Whoever takes the reins if a change is made will not be ripping up and starting again; they will be fine-tuning and honing.
Iraola’s tactics are usually built around a formation not dissimilar to Howe’s, but he could bring in new elements in terms of their approach with consistent high pressing.
Howe himself went from Bournemouth to Newcastle – albeit with a gap in between without a job – and Iraola could absolutely follow in his footsteps.
Alternatively for the Spaniard, Crystal Palace have been linked ahead of Oliver Glasner’s exit, while Liverpool may be ones to keep an eye on if Arne Slot runs out of time.
But Newcastle, after flipping between Champions League football and no European involvement at all over the past few seasons, seem to be the right calibre of club for Iraola to test himself.
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