Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola during the Premier League match at Anfield, Liverpool. Picture date: Saturday August 19, 2023.
Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola during the Premier League match at Anfield, Liverpool. Picture date: Saturday August 19, 2023.
With Andoni Iraola in place as Liverpool’s new head coach, the Reds are set to begin pre-season in mid-July at the AXA Training Centre.
It has now been three weeks since Iraola was announced as the new Liverpool manager, so he should be raring to go for the new challenge.
For those players not involved in the World Cup, “Iraola’s squad is expected to convene around July 13,” wrote the Liverpool Echo‘s Ian Doyle.
This would give them just under two weeks before crossing the Atlantic for their three pre-season friendlies in the US.
While the reported date is July 13, it is probable that some Liverpool players, particularly youngsters, will return earlier.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Tuesday, April 7, 2026: Liverpool's Milos Kerkez (L) and Dominik Szoboszlai during a training session at the AXA Training Centre ahead of the UEFA Champions League Quarter-Final 1st Leg match between Paris Saint-Germain FC and Liverpool FC. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Tuesday, April 7, 2026: Liverpool's Milos Kerkez (L) and Dominik Szoboszlai during a training session at the AXA Training Centre ahead of the UEFA Champions League Quarter-Final 1st Leg match between Paris Saint-Germain FC and Liverpool FC. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
Coinciding with the beginning of pre-season should also be Iraola’s unveiling press conference. This could come when the players are back or just prior to the team’s arrival.
The first wave of players would have returned on July 4 last year had Diogo Jota not passed away, but the 2026 Premier League opening weekend is a week later this time around.
The first competitive game of the campaign sees Liverpool face Newcastle at St James’ Park on August 23.
Having said all that, we are in somewhat unknown territory. Iraola is a new manager and may want to work things differently.
Last season, Bournemouth started pre-season around July 6, so with the league starting a week later, it would make sense that an approximate date of July 13 has been set this summer.
Judging by Iraola’s first interview, he was keen to get going.
Liverpool will have a very young squad for pre-season
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Saturday, February 7, 2026: Liverpool's Joshua Abe during the U18 Premier League match between Liverpool FC Under-18's and Everton FC Under-18's, the Mini-Mini Merseyside Derby, at Finch Farm. Everton won 2-1. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Saturday, February 7, 2026: Liverpool's Joshua Abe during the U18 Premier League match between Liverpool FC Under-18's and Everton FC Under-18's, the Mini-Mini Merseyside Derby, at Finch Farm. Everton won 2-1. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
In recent years, senior players have been given at least three weeks off in the summer.
Due to the World Cup, Iraola will start life on Merseyside without several of his key players.
This means that the earliest date we can expect back any player that reaches the round of 16, which could be nearly all eight of the Reds’ participants, would be the end of July, midway through the US tour.
Should a player reach the final, they likely wouldn’t join up with the squad until the Anfield games against Monaco and Como.
LFC US Pre-Season Tour Availability Guide
Players who will be part of the squad
Mamardashvili, Woodman, Gomez, Jacquet, Kerkez, Tsimikas, Frimpong, Szoboszlai, McConnell, Jones, Elliott, Nyoni, Chiesa, Ngumoha, Abe
Davies, Pecsi, Misciur, Mrozek, Scanlon, Ramsay, Beck, Chambers, Ndiaye, Ndukwe, Laffey, Morrison, Pilling, Stephenson, Figueroa, Gordon, Wright, Koumas
While it isn’t ideal for Iraola to be without the key figures in his team, it does give fringe players and academy prospects the chance to make an impression.
The new coach has already told LFC TV he is looking forward to working with the youngsters:
“We will have a chance to work especially with some of the young players, because a lot of the senior players have been out and are arriving later with the World Cup.
“So I think it gives us the chance to know better the players from the academy, some of the players who have been on loan.
“They will be an important part of the first part of pre-season, the American tour, and I think in that way it works very well for us, because it will give us a lot of the information before we take really decisions, before we start the season…
“The senior players have played in the World Cup, they’ve been feeling the pressure, they’ve been playing for their countries, I think they need and deserve a rest.
“And also this allows us to give folks important minutes, to train more closely with the young players that probably we don’t know as well, because we’ve been here already three seasons playing a lot of times against Liverpool and there are players that we already know.
“But there are other players probably that haven’t had the minutes, have played for the development squad, have been on loan somewhere and I think those training, those minutes will be for us to take decisions very well.”
Liverpool’s first friendly is to be their game against Sunderland in Nashville, which takes place on July 25.
Five days later, they face Wrexham in New York, before a trip to Chicago to play Leeds on August 2.
Once they return to Merseyside, they will play two matches at Anfield, against Monaco on August 9 and Como on August 16.
Football – FA Premier League – Liverpool FC v Chelsea FC
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Saturday, May 9, 2026: Liverpool's substitute Alexander Isak on the bench before the FA Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Chelsea FC at Anfield. The game ended in a 1-1 draw. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
Victor Munoz of Spain
Victor Munoz of Spain during the friendly match between Spain and Egypt played at RCDE Stadium on March 31, 2026 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Sergio Ruiz/PRESSINPHOTO)
Klopp hydration breaks
Klopp hydration breaks