Liverpool sack Arne Slot - The €480m transfer failure that sealed his fate as Iraola targeted

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Liverpool have announced that head coach Arne Slot has left his role as head coach after two years in charge. The 47-year-old guided the Reds to the Premier League title in 2024/25, joining an exclusive club of managers to win the Premier League title in their debut season in England. Along with Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Manuel Pellegrini and Antonio Conte, he was successful in steering Liverpool to their second league title since the league was founded in 1992.

However, the Dutchman found himself under immense pressure after failing to defend their title and eventually finishing fifth, despite overseeing a record-breaking transfer window last summer. Initial reports suggested that Liverpool were planning to stick with Slot and had begun planning for a third season in charge. But there has been a dramatic U-turn in the past 24 hours, and his departure was confirmed on Saturday, May 30, just hours before the Champions League final.

A club statement read: “That this was a difficult decision for us to make as a club goes without saying. The contribution Arne has made to Liverpool FC in the time that he has been with us has been significant, meaningful and – most importantly of all to supporters and ourselves – successful." It later added: "At the same time, we have collectively come to the conclusion that change is necessary in order for the club to keep moving forward. Again, it must be stressed that this is not a decision which has been reached lightly, anything but."

Slot took charge of 113 games for Liverpool, winning 66 of them. He ended his reign with a 1-1 draw with Brentford, giving him an overall points-per-game average of 1.91. As the graphic above shows, the 2025/26 season was one to forget for the Dutch manager though, as he oversaw his worst PPG record throughout his entire career with just 1.58 compared to 2.21 last season with Liverpool.

A huge €480 million failure

While Slot and the Liverpool hierarchy plotted their potential domination of English football, the pitfalls of splurging on big-money transfers were evident once again. In a record-breaking 2025 summer transfer window, Liverpool signed Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez for an eye-watering €480.2 million. Signing proven Premier League talent in Isak and Kerkez seemed like a smart move, while Ekitike with Eintracht Frankfurt and Wirtz and Frimpong at Bayer Leverkusen had tormented the Bundesliga at their respective clubs.

Unfortunately for the Reds, it appeared to be a case of too much change too soon. After his €125m switch, Wirtz failed to score or assist in his first 13 games and saw his market value drop by €20m over the course of the season. €145m British transfer record signing Isak missed pre-season and had to wait until mid-September to make his debut due to a hamstring issue, leading the Swede to score just three goals all season.

Frimpong and Kerkez struggled to hold down first-team spots and eventually became benchwarmers under Slot, with only Ekitike making something of an impression by scoring 11 goals in his debut campaign before injury prematurely curtailed his season.

Salah rift and slow football

But signings were not the only issue for Slot. It was his decision to post Dominik Szoboszlai in an unfamiliar right-back role, taking one of his key men out of the midfield that had looked so elegant in their title-winning season. Then there was a highly-publicised fallout with Mohamed Salah, who had rode into the season off the back of an astonishing return of 42 goal contributions. But at 33, Salah looked a spent force and Slot decided to axe him from the first team, a bold move considering his close ties with the Kop.

The football itself was all about controlling games by maintaining possession. Groans followed from the home crowd, who were accustomed to seeing Jurgen Klopp's 'heavy metal' football that involved end-to-end contests and a flurry of goals. When the goals dried up and Liverpool couldn't stop leaking them at the other end, Slot's position came under tremendous scrutiny after a run of nine defeats in 12 games. Despite managing to stop the slide, Liverpool finished below Manchester United and Aston Villa in the table, only securing Champions League football for next season via the extra place awarded to England from the UEFA Co-efficient race.

Liverpool make late Andoni Iraola move

Speculation suggests the Anfield club have made a late move to appoint Andoni Iraola, who is leaving Bournemouth after securing Europa League football for the South Coast outfit. It was believed that the Spaniard was close to taking the Bayer Leverkusen job, but the vacant hot seat at Liverpool could now sway his decision. Iraola has hinted at his interest in remaining in England and has also been linked with the post at Crystal Palace.

Liverpool already missed their chance to bring Xabi Alonso back to the club after he agreed to take charge of Chelsea from July onwards. But Iraola, another coach hailing from the Basque region of Gipuzkoa, could be the man that takes them forward. After working wonders in his three years at the Vitality Stadium, the 44-year-old may be just what they need to bring a form of Klopp's vertical football back to Merseyside. He also has a good relationship with sporting director Richard Hughes, the man who appointed him when he was at Bournemouth.

As for Slot, he leaves with an untouchable legacy as a Premier League title-winning manager, which should put him in good stead for the rest of his career.

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