Liverpool are going into the 2026/27 with a new manager in the form of Andoni Iraola and another rare boost
Andoni Iraola at Liverpool
Andoni Iraola has been given plenty to work with at Anfield(Image: COLORSPORT/Alan Martin/Shutterstock)
View 2 Images
New manager Andoni Iraola is preparing to take a proper look at his Liverpool squad in full for the first time when senior players return after World Cup duty. However, he already has something predecessor Arne Slot - and even long-time boss Jurgen Klopp - never had.
Iraola was appointed in early June, with the first summer signing - centre-back Jeremy Jacquet - already secured months before. His second senior addition, Victor Munoz, was signed during Spain's run to World Cup glory, but the Reds will hope to have him ready for the start of the new season after a break.
Munoz's arrival puts Iraola in a situation no Liverpool boss has been able to enjoy since 2010. For the first time since that campaign, they have two World Cup winners among their ranks.
The Spanish winger joins 2022 world champion Alexis Mac Allister at Anfield after pipping his new team-mate's Argentina to the title on Sunday. In 2010, both of Liverpool's World Cup winners were Spanish - with Pepe Reina and Fernando Torres both part of the squad which beat the Netherlands in South Africa.
On that occasion, Liverpool also had a new manager in the form of Roy Hodgson. However, he was gone by January and Torres' exit came a few months later, leaving Reina as the only survivor.
You have to go back more than 40 years before that for another example of Liverpool having more than one World Cup winner in their midst. Perhaps unsurprisingly, that came in the 1960s, with Roger Hunt, Ian Callaghan and Gerry Byrne all part of the England squad which lifted the trophy on home soil in 1966.
FOLLOW OUR LIVERPOOL FC FACEBOOK PAGE! All the latest news and analysis from Anfield on the Liverpool Echo's dedicated LFC Facebook page
Victor Munoz with the World Cup trophy
Victor Munoz will make his Liverpool debut as a World Cup winner(Image: FIFA via Getty Images)
View 2 Images
Content Image
Content Image
Munoz underwent his Liverpool medical during the World Cup as the Reds beat Newcastle to his signature. “With Victor, I think we signed him in a moment where he’s very hungry, he’s ambitious, but he’s still humble and knows that he has to come very ready," new boss Iraola said of the former Osasuna winger.
“I think he’s someone with some versatility – can play right, can play left, he has the work-rate also for all that we will require. Looking forward to having him here, even if we know that we will have to wait with him and Macca.”
Neither Munoz nor Mac Allister has been included in the touring squad as the Reds head to the United States, with both given more time off after their World Cup exploits. Liverpool are due to face Sunderland, Wrexham and Leeds before returning home for two friendlies at Anfield in August.
Buy Blood Red, our monthly Liverpool FC print publication for just £3.50 by clicking here