Ex-PL CEO: Liverpool owners FSG & Hughes in 'disagreement' over Iraola appointment

Liverpool’s imminent move to appoint Andoni Iraola is not the appointment that they have been lining up in recent months.

That is according to former Everton chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes that the Spaniard is not the boss that Liverpool have been hunting, and feels that the Reds have shown “undue haste” in their move for him.

The Merseysiders parted company with their 2024-25 title-winning boss Arne Slot last week, and have immediately turned to Iraola as his replacement, after another impressive season with Bournemouth.

The club hierarchy set themselves the target of getting the appointment finalised ahead of the World Cup, and they now appear set to meet that goal, with a verbal agreement reached for the 43-year-old to take charge.

Iraola will become Liverpool’s new manager imminently, but Wyness feels that there are “question marks” surrounding the way the club have gone about their business.

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Everton’s former chief Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – believes that Liverpool’s sporting director Richard Hughes has not seen eye-to-eye with FSG regarding the process to appoint Iraola.

Hughes was a major figure in Bournemouth’s move to appoint Iraola at Bournemouth in 2023, and he has played a key role once again now that he is working for Liverpool.

Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, Wyness believes that there may have been a “disagreement” between Hughes and the owners as to how to proceed forward after Slot’s sacking.

“They decided late in the season on the Slot issue that they were going to have to make a move; they’re now finding themselves picking Iraola because he’s available. Is that really the right way to have gone and picked a manager?” Wyness said.

“It could have been a bit of undue haste that they may wish to repent on later on. I’m not entirely convinced that Iraola is the one that they’ve been hunting all season. I think that would have been much clearer, and it would have been labelled earlier.

“There are some question marks, I think internally. I think there’s been a little bit of disagreement between Richard Hughes and the others at the top of Liverpool and as to how they’re going to approach it.

🚨 Andoni Iraola to sign a two year deal until June 2028 at Liverpool, already involved in transfer plans and strategy.

Iraola asked for a two year deal as he always did at Bournemouth. 🔴🫱🏻‍🫲🏼 pic.twitter.com/jsoJNRSwJb

“Iraola is available, and it’s been done quickly, but as I say that brings up a question mark in my mind as to whether he really was the one that they really wanted.”

Wyness also told Football Insider that Liverpool had “second thoughts” over sacking Slot, due to an upturn in form that occurred back in February.

The Merseyside insider suggested that he was “surprised” that the Dutchman’s dismissal didn’t take place sooner, and feels that the board had been “dithering” over his future in recent months.

Wyness believes that the club hierarchy actually lost faith in Slot’s ability to manage the team long before they eventually pulled the trigger, a move which he feels highlights the indecision behind the scenes.

Slot had been under pressure for most of the season amid a dismal Premier League title defence, but managed to keep his job until after the campaign had concluded.

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