Former Liverpool winger Albert Riera, who also played for Manchester City in England, has emerged as a leading candidate to take over at Hull City this summer after the Tigers fired Ruben Selles.
The Spaniard, 41, was relieved of his duties despite keeping Hull in the second tier of English soccer. And Riera is one of the options who could step into his shoes this summer and attempt to take the east coast outfit back up the standings.
Riera, who played for Liverpool while Rafa Benitez was in charge and made 56 appearances for the Reds in total, has been doing well since he moved into coaching.
At present, he is the head coach at the Slovenian side Celje, who played in the UEFA Conference League this season, narrowly exiting in the quarter-finals against Fiorentina.
According to talkSPORT, Riera is one of the options being considered by Hull City. Former Liverpool academy coach Michael Beale, who worked with Steven Gerrard at Rangers, has also been interviewed.
Riera spent two years at Anfield between 2008 and 2010. Left-footed, he arrived with a point to prove in the Premier League following an unspectacular loan spell at Manchester City in the 2005-06 season.
He made an impressive debut in a 2-1 victory over Manchester United and a few weeks later, netted his first goal against Wigan Athletic. Liverpool finished second in the table that season.
(Image: 2025 Liverpool FC)
A lack of first-team opportunities in 2009-10 saw Riera fall out with Benitez. As a result, he moved to the Greek side Olympiacos in a deal that was sanctioned by new boss Roy Hodgson in July 2010.
Now 43, the 16-time Spanish international moved into coaching with Olimpija Ljubljana (also in Slovenia). He also had a brief spell with French side Bordeaux.
Riera has no experience as a coach in England but came back for a third spell late in his career with Watford when the Hornets were in the EFL. He then moved to Mallorca and spent time at two Slovenian clubs before becoming a coach.
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His reputation has been growing, but Hull would represent the biggest job that he has taken on yet. Bordeaux is a big club but was in Ligue 2 at the time, with the French authorities later relegating it because of financial troubles.
Riera is the favorite with some bookies. Plymouth Argyle head coach Miron Muslic second at 6/4 and Emre Belozogulu an outsider at 8/1, with Beale further back at 12/1.
Steve Cooper, another former Liverpool coach, has gone from 33/1 to 4/1, but that is also considered highly unlikely. Cooper was most recently at Leicester City and it would be a huge coup for Hull to attract the former Nottingham Forest boss to the MKM Stadium.
