Andoni Iraola has officially communicated to AC Milan that he will not accept their offer of becoming the new head coach.
Milan made a strong push to try and hire Iraola as the replacement for Massimiliano Allegri, who was sacked on Monday less than 24 hours after the defeat to Cagliari, one that completed the collapse and meant no Champions League football for 2026-27.
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After initial positive signs, things seemed to hit a wall with Iraola, who left Bournemouth following the conclusion of the season. It appears that he’s waiting for a better offer from the Premier League, but is also in advanced talks with Bayer Leverkusen.
Iraola says no
In the meantime, he has now formally said no to the Rossoneri’s advances. Matteo Moretto and Fabrizio Romano provided all the latest updates in a video on their YouTube channel (via MilanNews).
Moretto: “Between yesterday and today, Cardinale, Ibrahimovic, and some collaborators have been making repeated calls, video calls, and meetings with sporting directors, potential new CEOs, coaches, and scouts. AC Milan urgently needs to fill these power gaps.”
Romano: “Iraola’s name has been mentioned for days, and we’ve said that AC Milan met with him secretly in London. AC Milan made an attempt for Iraola, but the words ‘imminent, close, agreement’ never came from us, because Iraola has at least two other offers.
“One leads to Crystal Palace, the other to Bayern Leverkusen, while we wait to see what happens at Liverpool, where Arne Slot is currently staying. Should sensational developments arise between now and June, or mid-June, we’ll see.”
Moretto: “At the beginning, in the weeks leading up to the move, Iraola spoke with certain figures within the club, then those figures were changed, and now he’s spoken with others within the club.
“I believe that Iraola’s attitude to the game, his ideas, his ideals and the organisation ultimately led him to reject Milan. Iraola prefers other career options.”
Romano: “Leverkusen currently think they’re a bit ahead of Palace in the race for Iraola. Yesterday, there was a lot of talk about Palace, but in reality, Leverkusen are in the running. Palace would give Iraola a lot of money, but they also have to make it a matter of the power he can have in building his team.
“There are different considerations, it’s clear that Italy is currently significantly behind in terms of being the new Xabi Alonso at Bayer and deciding everything, or staying in the Premier League, where between Palace and also possible scenarios at Liverpool, we’ll see if there are any surprises.”