The Briefing: Iraola announces exit, Arsenal injury latest and more

Here is your daily briefing for the latest Premier League stories on Tuesday 14 April.

Iraola to leave Bournemouth

AFC Bournemouth have announced that Andoni Iraola will leave the club at the end of the season.

Across his three years in charge, Iraola delivered a record points total of 56 in 2024/25 and matched the club’s highest finish of ninth place in the Premier League.

"I feel this is the right moment for me to step away, but I will always carry fantastic memories of this club," Iraola said.

In their statement, the club praised Iraola for establishing a clear identity in the Premier League and "earning widespread recognition" for developing players.

"Andoni has been instrumental in shaping the direction of this football club over the past three seasons," said chairman Bill Foley. "He brought intensity, innovation, and a clear philosophy that elevated AFC Bournemouth both on and off the pitch.

"We are incredibly thankful for his leadership and will always have great memories of our time working together, as well as the things we accomplished."

Arsenal injury struggles

Several key Arsenal players are struggling with injuries ahead of Sunday’s monumental Premier League clash with Manchester City.

Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori missed Tuesday's training session, on the eve of their UEFA Champions League home match against Sporting.

Arsenal carry a one-goal lead into the quarter-final second leg and their manager Mikel Arteta remains hopeful that some of the injured players will feature on Wednesday evening. They will then have only three days to prepare for what many consider a title-defining trip to the Etihad Stadium. 

Rice has played the full 90 minutes of Arsenal’s last two matches.

"He has played a lot of games, and that is part of the issue," Arteta said. "He is going to try to do everything he possibly can to be with us."

Arteta added that one of Saka or Timber could play a part against Sporting, though all injured players will be assessed before the game.

England forward Saka has not played for Arsenal since before the international break.

Arteta stressed that there had been no setback to what he described as an "Achilles issue". But Saka is in a race to be fit for the Man City match.

"Hopefully, it's a matter of days and not weeks," Arteta said.

Haaland celebrates Leeds' win

Erling Haaland had plenty of reasons to enjoy Leeds’ first victory against Man Utd at Old Trafford in 45 years.

Not only was it a defeat for the Man City striker’s cross-town rivals – who are nine points behind in third – but a historic victory for a club he grew up supporting due to his dad, Alfe-Inge Haaland, playing for the Yorkshire club, as well as Man City.

On Snapchat, Haaland posted a photo of his TV screen showing Leeds forward Noah Okafor celebrating after scoring both goals in the 2-1 victory, simply captioned: “Get in.”

Haaland has long spoken about his affection for Leeds. He refused to celebrate when he scored against them at Elland Road in 2022.

“When I was young, I had an Eirik Bakke shirt in my room and a jersey of my father,” he told Amazon Prime. “In my craziest fantasy, I couldn't think of being at Elland Road and scoring for Manchester City against Leeds."

Okafor also took to social media after the match, posting an Instagram photo of himself with arms folded and the caption: “Look mommy i scored twice at Old Trafford.”

The post blew up. By Tuesday afternoon, it had been liked over 230,000 times.

Neville backs Carrick for Man Utd job

Gary Neville has backed former team-mate Michael Carrick to become Manchester United’s next permanent manager.

Carrick has revitalised Man Utd’s form since taking over as head coach in January and, despite Monday night’s defeat to Leeds United, they remain well-placed to qualify for the UEFA Champions League.

Man Utd sit third, seven points clear of sixth-placed Chelsea, with six games remaining. The top five are set to qualify for the Champions League next season.

“What Michael's doing right now, not just winning football matches which is critical, he's settling the club down off the pitch as well which will be important,” Neville told Sky Sports ahead of the Leeds game.

“If you're an owner and the rest of the club trust the manager, like the manager and feel he has a good way about him, that will count as they move towards the end of the season.

“I think it's getting to a point where it's pretty inevitable, they're going to appoint Michael Carrick. I just hold out for if a Luis Enrique or someone of that ilk was to become available, that United would make that decision and bring them in.

“World-class managers, who have been there before, United need to get back to winning titles and Champions Leagues. Managers who have done that before have obviously got a better chance.”

Relegation calm

Nerves will be tested in the relegation battle this weekend – and there has been a call for calm heads.

Fresh from their monumental win against Man Utd, Leeds can move nine points clear of the bottom three if they beat bottom side Wolverhampton Wanderers at 15:00 BST on Saturday.

Tottenham Hotspur do not kick off until 17:30 BST and face in-form Brighton & Hove Albion, who are pushing for a European place.

Opta gives Leeds a 2.2 per cent chance of going down, but head coach Daniel Farke told his players to “stay humble” after the Man Utd match.

“For now, three points closer, nothing is achieved yet, we have to stay humble, grounded, hungry, we need to make sure we are also on it in the upcoming games to win as many points as possible,” Farke told Sky Sports.

Spurs, meanwhile, have an opportunity of their own. They sit two points behind 17th-placed West Ham United and three behind 16th-placed Nottingham Forest.

A win would temporarily lift them ahead of Forest on goal difference before Forest face second-bottom Burnley on Sunday.

It would drop West Ham – who climbed out of the bottom three after thrashing Wolves – back into danger. The Hammers visit Crystal Palace on Monday.

“Obviously it’s good to have moved up in the table, but we know that things can change very quickly, and if we don’t keep getting results we can be there again,” midfielder Mateus Fernandes told the West Ham website.

Best Premier League midfielders

Jamie Carragher chose his top 10 Premier League central midfielders of all time on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football – while sitting next to Roy Keane.

The question throughout the segment was: would Carragher pick Keane as No 1?

Given a long-list on Monday morning, Carragher whittled it down to 10.

Keane, who offered comments on his own career and Carragher’s choices, said he is drawn to “midfielders who can do everything”.

With two spots left, Carragher still hadn’t mentioned his punditry partner – but eventually selected him at No 2.

“I don’t think anybody ran a game better than Roy Keane and everything went through him in midfield,” Carragher said. “You were the boss in midfield.”

Keane explained: “I kept the game simple,” before listing the great players he played alongside, such as Paul Scholes and Paul Ince.

In a decision that will cause some debate, Carragher settled on his former Liverpool team-mate Steven Gerrard as the best Premier League central midfielder.

“The strength I always say about Stevie was he didn’t have a weakness,” Carragher said. “He could tick every box.”

Carragher argues that while Keane excelled in the holding and attacking roles, nobody in his top 10 could play all three modern roles – No 6, 8 and 10. “Stevie could play all of them.”

He acknowledged the common criticism that Gerrard never won the Premier League, but he countered with the fact that Gerrard was chosen eight times by his peers in the PFA Team of the Year – more than any player ever.

You can vote for your favourite from Carragher’s top 10 here.