Michael Edwards will return to Liverpool after taking up the post of head of football operations at Fenway Sports Group. His first step will be to appoint former AFC Bournemouth chief Richard Hughes as the club’s new sporting director.
Hughes was the Cherries’ technical director until November and is anticipated to succeed Jorg Schmadtke, whose job ended with the completion of the January window. Edwards, who served as the Reds’ sporting director until 2022, will now lead the club’s post-Jurgen Klopp period following Klopp’s decision to leave at the end of the season.
Klopp unexpectedly announced at the end of January that he would be leaving the club at the conclusion of the season. Assistant managers Pep Lijnders and Peter Krawietz, as well as elite development coach Vitor Matos, will leave the Reds.
Schmadtke arrived to Anfield in January 2023, but his employment was always viewed as a temporary solution following Julian Ward’s departure last summer.
One of Edwards’ first jobs upon Hughes’ projected arrival is to identify a suitable successor for the departing German. Bayer Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso has been named as the favourite to succeed the 56-year-old, ahead of Ruben Amorim, Julian Nagelsmann, and Roberto De Zerbi.
Hughes is considered as well-equipped and highly respected in the recruitment industry, having impressed during his time with the Cherries. So, who is Hughes, and what can he offer Liverpool? We took a peek.
Who is Richard Hughes?
Hughes grew raised in Milan, Italy, and briefly played for Atalanta in 1992 and 1993. He then spent five years at Arsenal’s academy before joining Bournemouth at the age of 19.
He made over 170 games for the Cherries and represented Scotland on the international level. Hughes once scored the winner in an FA Cup match against Liverpool while playing for Pompey.
The former midfielder retired in 2014, having previously played for Portsmouth and Grimsby Town. He went on to join Bournemouth’s technical staff when Eddie Howe was manager.
Transfer deals at Bournemouth
Hughes has worked to alter Bournemouth since his arrival. He brought in Tyrone Mings, Callum Wilson, and Nathan Ake before selling them at a profit.
He was key in selecting Andoni Iraola as Gary O’Neil’s replacement, as well as bringing in former Reds Dominic Solanke, Lloyd Kelly, and Alex Scott. He was also behind Nat Phillips’ loan move and is well known to Liverpool due to previous transfer deals between the two teams.
Hughes has also been described as a buddy and close associate of Liverpool’s previous sporting director, Michael Edwards.
Recruitment philosophy
Previously, when asked about his work, the 44-year-old stated: “The thing about recruitment is that you’re dealing with humans and human performance, so all you can do is be as knowledgeable as possible, have as much information as possible, and hope that you make more good decisions than bad.”
“Here, character and attitude are such important aspects of the players. That means that learning more about a player than what you can see in 90 minutes is more crucial. It is not a science since, in very few cases, you can predict exactly what a player would be like under a manager at a club at any one time, as well as all of the factors that influence a player’s happiness, mood, and performance.
“They’re all things that to an extent aren’t in your control but you have to have as much information as possible when you make that signing – and hopefully as we’ve gone on and got more experienced in this side of things we’ve been able to do that better than when we started.”
