Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola will get to work with his new players after a summer break, with plenty of them needing a fresh slate after a difficult previous season
04:00, 09 Jun 2026
Andoni Iraola during a Bournemouth training session.
Andoni Iraola during a Bournemouth training session.(Image: Robin Jones - AFC Bournemouth via Getty Images)
After a difficult season for Liverpool, this summer was always going to require a reset, and with Andoni Iraola taking over, there is an even clearer line to draw between one era and the next.
Arne Slot was dismissed just over a week ago, with Iraola swiftly installed as his successor. The Spaniard knows, ahead of a vital period in which he will be tasked with dramatically closing the gap to Arsenal, that there is much work to do.
"For me, it's much easier to continue in the Premier League in terms of knowing the squad," Iraola told club media upon his arrival. "We've analyzed Liverpool a lot — possible weaknesses, the strengths. I think we have a very good squad.
"I think there is still work to do, like normally in every club in this moment of the season. But right now, for me the thing is to value especially the players that we have right now in the squad.
"For me, and I will tell them, they are all new signings. For me, you are all new signings. I think we have a lot of quality in our squad, and I'm really looking forward to working with them."
Who, then, needs to make a good impression early on under Iraola, and who is best placed to do so?
In his debut season at Liverpool, Jeremie Frimpong didn't look defensive enough to be a right-back, nor attacking enough to be a right winger. Under Iraola, his exact role moving forward will need to be worked out.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - JUNE 04: (THE SUN OUT, THE SUN ON SUNDAY OUT) Andoni Iraola new manager of Liverpool Football Club at Anfield on June 04, 2026 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Andoni Iraola has taken charge of Liverpool(Image: Andrew Powell, Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Frimpong was a wing-back under Xabi Alonso at Bayer Leverkusen, but that isn't a position that Liverpool uses. He also needs to get fitter and stronger to cope with the demands of the English game.
Having been left out of the Netherlands' squad for the World Cup, though, Frimpong will be one of the first players to return for pre-season, giving him some extra time to get Iraola on board.
Midfielder Curtis Jones is another with uncertainty surrounding him heading into the summer, but for different reasons. The Scouser has only one year left on his contract at the moment, and Inter Milan made its interest in the 25-year-old public over the weekend.
If Iraola sees more of a route to regular minutes for Jones in the next couple of years, his interest in leaving might diminish. There is a decision to be made, though, and the extra time to work with his new boss might change things.
Last season's Player of the Year, Dominik Szoboszlai, is another whose contract situation needs to be addressed at some point, though there is much less urgency there — he still has two years remaining on his existing deal.
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Szoboszlai needs to establish exactly where he will be playing in the Liverpool team moving forward. As a No.10, Florian Wirtz is the obvious pick, which might mean him dropping deeper.
With Hungary another nation to miss out on the World Cup, there will be plenty of time to work on it, and one thing is for sure: his energy levels should suit what Iraola demands down to the ground.
Finally, Alexander Isak, though he will be playing for Sweden, is not likely to go that deep into the tournament. For the former Newcastle man, this summer is about gaining match fitness rather than learning his role.
More than anyone else, Isak can be like a 'new signing' for Liverpool next season, given we already know his quality, he is Premier League proven, and he played so little last term.
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But for him and a few others, the chance for a clean break after a difficult period simply has to be grasped with both hands.