It has been a mixed start to life for Andoni Iraola at Liverpool, but the 44 year old Spaniard is not giving up without a fight, and in the last few weeks there have been better signs of improvement and some consistency coming back into the performance levels of his first team squad.
With the November international break now with us, fourth spot in the Premier League table is pretty respectable after all the changes at Anfield over the summer, and we are only ten games into the season anyway. So with five wins and three draws already secured, there are more than enough games left to really find a richer vein of form and for Andoni to ensure that his debut year at the club creates the foundations we all want and goes down as a success.
With recent years dominated by wantaway players and almost endless talk of whether or not new contracts would be signed it was a gold mine for fans who liked online football betting, but we go into this lull in the domestic fixture list with goalkeeper Alisson back in the news - and he wants to sign his own new deal.
The 34 year old, 83 capped Brazilian international, has gone on record to state that he wanted a new contract extension to keep him with us next season, and ideally he would not depart this coming summer when his existing deal comes to an end. Iraola had previously commented just last week that he hoped it would not be the experienced players final year at the club, but that he did not know whether it would be and now Allison himself has commented that his 'will is to stay.'
Having made the move from AS Roma back in 2018 for a whopping transfer fee of £68.8 million, he has gone on to feature 347 times for the club, and has more than played his part in our double top flight title success and Cup adventures since that time. He admits himself that if any new deal and stay is to come to fruition, then a few things will need to line up, but with him still being happy here (and his family) it is a no brainer in terms of looking for a new adventure of his own right now. He also confirmed that he was not directly in talks with the club over an extension, but his agent was in talks - presumably tentative right now.
It should be remembered that during the summer transfer window there was firm interest from Italian Serie A stalwarts Juventus, but he ultimately decided against a move then and he must have had an expectation that remaining for the final year of his deal would see a new one offered, even if only a one or two year extension.
With the defeat to Arsenal, and the Fenerbahce game ringing again in the ears of fans, his performance in last weekend's Crystal Palace victory sees this interview well timed as he again showed how good he can be and was crucial to the victory. At 34, he is far from past it yet, but we do need a succession plan in place even if a new deal is arranged.