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Bournemouth’s owner, Bill Foley, is planning contract talks with Andoni Iraola next week and there is growing confidence at the club that the in-demand head coach can be persuaded to stay. The Spaniard’s contract expires at the end of next season and Foley wants him to sign a longer deal, despite interest from clubs such as Tottenham. Foley is due to fly to Bournemouth after Easter and meet Iraola to discuss the future, with a new contract on offer.
Ange Postecoglou is under huge pressure at Tottenham after losing 17 Premier League games, and only winning the Europa League could keep him in the job. Spurs play their quarter-final second leg at Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday, with the tie finely balanced at 1-1.
Iraola has been identified as one of the leading domestic candidates to replace Postecoglou should the chair, Daniel Levy, make a change, with Fulham’s Marco Silva and Brentford’s Thomas Frank also highly rated. Bournemouth have not held formal talks with Iraola but believe he will stay, particularly if the club qualify for Europe for the first time.
After six games without a win, Bournemouth beat Fulham on Monday to go eighth in the Premier League, which could yield a Conference League place.
Iraola achieved Bournemouth’s record points tally of 48 last season and has matched that with six games remaining. His energetic football has won many admirers, although some have questioned whether the 42-year-old’s preference for counterattacking would translate to a side accustomed to dominating possession, such as Tottenham.
Although Iraola is ambitious and wants to work at the highest level, he is happy at Bournemouth, who give him considerable influence over transfers, backed by the data-led approach brought by Foley’s Black Knight Sports and Entertainment ownership group.
Signings such as those of Milos Kerkez, Dean Huijsen and Evanilson have been masterstrokes, and with Bournemouth comfortably inside the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules threshold the club can demand high prices this summer.
The £55m sale of Dominic Solanke to Tottenham was the only significant departure last summer and with long-term contracts in place Bournemouth are confident of keeping most of the squad together.
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Iraola joined Bournemouth on a two-year contract and signed an extension last May. At his previous club, Rayo Vallecano, whom he guided to promotion to La Liga before keeping them in the top flight for two seasons, he preferred to work on a 12-month rolling contract.
