SerpApi.Org
Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola has praised "very good friend" Xabi Alonso and discussed growing up with the former midfielder and Mikel Arteta, as all three prepare to meet as coaches in the Premier League next season.
The trio all grew up in the Basque Country, Spain, and played alongside each other for the same youth team, Antigouko in the San Sebastian area.
Plenty has been said about how the area has become well-known for creating soccer talent, both in players and head coaches, and the three of them are proof of that.
Iraola enjoyed a relatively successful playing career, but has made more of a name for himself as a manager with Rayo Vallecano and Bournemouth before joining Liverpool this summer.
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As for Arteta, he enjoyed playing for the likes of Arsenal and Everton, before joining the former as a coach and taking them to Premier League glory last season.
Alonso featured for Liverpool and Real Madrid during his playing days, and while he was always tipped to manage the former, his exit from the latter saw him make the surprise switch to Chelsea this summer as its coach.
As the childhood friends prepare to face off, Iraola has discussed growing up alongside the elite coaching talents, and how things will change heading into this season.
He told the press in Chicago during Liverpool's pre-season tour: "[Alonso is] A very good friend, since 7, 8, 9 we played in the same team.
"Competition will be hard, they [Alonso and Arteta] are very good coaches, we are in charge of very good clubs, so we will not communicate as much."
It underlines the incredible story of the trio, who were all born within seven months of each other and came through at the same time as players and now as coaches.
Those days are long gone, however, and while they will remain friends with fond memories, that competitive instinct will kick in as soon as they need to go out and win with their clubs.
Liverpool's reunion with Alonso will come in December, as the Reds travel to Chelsea first up, before the reverse fixture at Anfield comes in May during the final five-match run-in.
As for Iraola's meeting with Arteta, that is lined up for late October in Merseyside, before the Reds travel to North London for the return fixtures in February.
It remains to be seen how the friends-turn-foe will do in their roles this season, with an expectation that all three will be fighting for a place at the top of the Premier League table within the first few weeks.
