‘It is not what you know, but who you know.’ – The old saying has never been more relevant than it is at Anfield right now.
After Jurgen Klopp announced his decision to stand down as Liverpool manager at the conclusion of the season in January, FSG only intended to bring back one individual to help cover the leadership hole and oversee football operations: former Reds sporting director Michael Edwards.
The 44-year-old left Anfield in 2022 after 11 years and initially turned down FSG’s attempts, stating that he had no desire to return to his prior role. However, a second attempt at face-to-face meetings in Boston, this time proposing a more senior position inside the firm, was significantly more fruitful.
In successfully bringing Edwards back to their operations, FSG hired a familiar face and one of the finest in the industry.
Of course, one of Edwards’ first jobs will be to find a new sporting director for Anfield after Jorg Schmadtke’s brief tenure ended following the January transfer window. The German was successfully coaxed out of retirement last summer after Klopp’s agent, Marc Kosicke, suggested his acquaintance as a prospective successor to Julian Ward in the absence of a long-term solution.
Edwards is now set to hire Richard Hughes, after it was announced last week that the former Scotland international would depart AFC Bournemouth as their first-team technical director at the end of the season.
Edwards and Hughes are buddies from their time at Portsmouth, where the former worked as a rookie data analyst while the latter was still a player.
Hughes retired from football in 2014 after two years with Bournemouth, but later returned to the Cherries’ recruitment staff under Eddie Howe and was appointed to Technical Director during the club’s Premier League tenure.
During Edwards’ first term as sporting director at Anfield, the pair did business together several times, with Jordon Ibe and Brad Smith joining the Vitality Stadium for a combined £21 million in July 2016. Dominic Solanke would also depart Liverpool for Bournemouth in January 2019, for a fee of up to £24 million, while Nathaniel Clyne would join the Cherries on loan that same month.
The following August, Bournemouth signed Harry Wilson on a season-long loan from the Reds, while Nat Phillips made his own temporary move to the South Coast club in January 2022, during Edwards’ final season at Anfield, and went on to help the Cherries win promotion back to the Premier League.
A longtime admirer of Hughes, such a bond appears to have paved the way for the 44-year-old to team up with Edwards and make his own move to Anfield as sporting director.
Last month, Liverpool great Jamie Carragher stated that Edwards believed his contact list to be his most crucial weapon.
“People always talk about Liverpool’s recruitment, and you think of Michael Edwards with everything that he did working with Jurgen Klopp and others at the club,” Carragher said on the Sky Bet-sponsored Stick to Football podcast.
“I went to see Michael once to acquire some additional information from him. I was expecting big insights into how many scouts Liverpool has, how they observe them, and how they see different things, but he told me that the most important thing was acquiring the players they wanted because of their relationships with agents – it’s all about having excellent relationships with the agencies.”
However, may similar contacts now assist the Reds in their search for a new manager ahead of Klopp’s impending departure?
Former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso is widely regarded as one of the favourites to take over at Anfield, having led a dramatic turnaround at Bayer Leverkusen since October 2022.
They were second from bottom in the league at the time of his appointment, but they are now 10 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga table and are in a good position to become the first team to prevent Bayern Munich from winning the title since Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund in 2011/12.
If Leverkusen converts their present lead into silverware, they will become German champions for the first time in their history. However, it is not the only trophy they are pursuing; they are also competing for the DFB-Pokal and the Europa League, perhaps completing a treble.
Hughes already has a positive relationship with Alonso’s agent and representatives, Inaki Ibanez of IDUB Global.
The group also includes Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola, whom Hughes helped recruit to the Vitality Stadium from Rayo Vallecano last summer.
If the Scot, who will not leave Bournemouth until the summer, does take over as Liverpool’s next sports director, he will be well-positioned to leverage such a working connection once more, if the Reds decide to make Alonso their next manager.
As Edwards said to Carragher, it all comes down to having excellent relationships with agents. Fortunately for Liverpool, such a link already exists between their proposed sporting director and potential next manager.
