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Call M. E. baby

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Josh M asked: Hi David, hope you’re well. What is the likelihood of Michael Edwards returning to Liverpool and, if not, who are the names likely to appear high up on the list of alternatives?

David Ornstein:
Hi Josh. Edwards has already turned down the chance to return and there has been nothing to suggest he has changed his mind.

If Fenway Sports Group (FSG) is still trying, you would have to presume their executives think there is still a chance he could perform a U-turn. Either that or they are misguided but I think they are too intelligent for it to be the latter. However, all indications are that Edwards is focused on his Ludonautics consultancy firm, so it would take something major — and quick — to alter that.

Liverpool need to appoint their sporting director — or at least establish a direction of travel — as soon as possible for that person to lead the managerial recruitment process (even though work is already taking place on that in the background, to help the new sporting director hit the ground running).

Edwards has no interest in being a sporting director again. It would need to be something higher, more over-arching and stimulating (which would probably see him appoint a sporting director, for example).

There have been reports that he would demand total control to consider a return to Liverpool. That is not my understanding. He was already offered that by FSG when it made the original approach and he rejected the opportunity — the same with Chelsea, Manchester United and others historically. It’s more about how enticing the project and proposition are to him for different and a variety of reasons. Or, ultimately, perhaps he is just happy with his work and life as it is.
 
All this talk of having a stimulating and enticing project... We're a football club, not the Rothschild empire.
 
Reading between the lines here with the emergence of this bit of info from the normal mouthpieces (Simon Hughes et al.) and that rumour merchant that FSG are still heavily considering Edwards returning eventhough nothing suggests he would, signal indecisiveness from our owners. There's so much mixed signals about the interim Schmadtke appointment last summer; on one hand he got us Endo, on the other hand he thought Szobo was too pricey.

Judging by the lack of The Athletic fluff piece (remember how there was a whole piece on how Julian Ward retails his phone call in front of our trophy cabinet to Darwin lol), I reckon we somehow lucked into making the correct decision in the end, but the common denominator in all this is Klopp- and to me it looks like they're just riding on him, which makes things look rosy in general, but life after is still a big void I'm skeptical off no matter how promising things are at the moment. Just look at how difficult it's been for Man United to continue Ferguson's legacy, or how bloated Chelsea are with overpaid players and a clueless setup, or even how Dortmund have fared after Klopp's departure.
 
All this talk of having a stimulating and enticing project... We're a football club, not the Rothschild empire.

Unless an enticing project means something like managing a multi-club empire a la Red Bull or City. Who knows...
 
Yeah, think some of the Edwards credit it a bit OTT.
Our signings since Edwards have been fine, I initially had issues more the lack of any signings or direction last year than anything else.
The Hendo 3yr/4yr renewal as a bit of a BS point, guy at the time was our captain, playing well and winning as one. He move on, so did we. Not bothered about Edwards, as long as we get the right person Alonso wants to work with have funds available when required.
 
It seems a bit too keen of us to be courting Edwards so publicly like this. It's weird
 
Edwards as CEO then and temporarily managing sporting director till he finds someone or promotes someone from within.
Billy Hogan might move permanently to his new role.
 
I spoke to Michael Edwards the other day about Liverpool return - FSG have to try and bring him back

Liverpool legend Steve McManaman has urged FSG to bring former sporting director Michael Edwards back to the club.

Edwards left the Reds in the summer of 2022 following a successful 11-year stint at the club, before later setting up his own data consultancy company - Ludonautics.


However, with Jurgen Klopp confirmed to be stepping down as manager in the summer, and with Liverpool also in need of a new sporting director following Jorge Schmadtke’s exit at the end of January, FSG are trying to lure Edwards back to the club in a more senior role.

Mike Gordon, the FSG president, approached Edwards after Klopp's decision to stand down in the summer was made public in January, only to be instantly rebuffed. However, the ECHO reported last month that the Liverpool owners believe they can still tempt their former sporting director into reversing his decision.

McManaman knows Edwards well and actually lives near the 44-year-old. And he’s revealed that he recently spoke to the former Reds sporting director about a possible Anfield return following the reports that FSG want to bring him back to the club, though is unsure whether such a move could become reality.

“They should try and bring Michael back! Of course, they should,” he exclusively told the ECHO, when speaking ahead of Sparta Prague v Liverpool, live exclusively on TNT Sports. “Funnily enough, I spoke to him the other day about it as well because he lives by me and I see him regularly.

“I don’t know in what capacity they would want to bring him back. I don’t know. I think Michael has moved on from just being a sporting director. He hasn’t said that to me personally, but he couldn’t just go back to the same role that he was doing for a long time.

“I think he’d need more. I don’t know whether he needs a new challenge. In past comments he’s made, it’s always the case that he needs a new challenge.

“The same with Julian Ward as well. I know Jules very well. It would be great if they could come back and recreate what they had done previously, of course it would be.

“But I don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes, if they have spoken to them, if they have offered them various things. I don’t entirely know.

“But Michael and Jules did an incredible job when they were at Liverpool. They’re friends of mine so I wouldn’t say anything bad about them!”
 
Looks like they’re going to let him run the show with his mate from Bournemouth as DoF.

You do have to wonder if this is part of the reason Klopp left - but whether it’s making this change or not making it sooner is the problem, is anyone’s guess.
 
Mirror reporting that Hughes preferred destination is us.

Edwards - Hughes - Xabi
 
They've had a profile of signing players under 25. Kerkez, Alex Scott, Zabarnyj etc all signed from 20 and below.
Bournemouth are doing a good job and Hughes is instrumental to that.
 
They've had a profile of signing players under 25. Kerkez, Alex Scott, Zabarnyj etc all signed from 20 and below.
Bournemouth are doing a good job and Hughes is instrumental to that.
Fair enough... Lets see what happens. His appt is at the end of the season, so doesn't give him much time to settle in.
 
Looks like they’re going to let him run the show with his mate from Bournemouth as DoF.

You do have to wonder if this is part of the reason Klopp left - but whether it’s making this change or not making it sooner is the problem, is anyone’s guess.
There is no way FSG make any changes to piss of Klopp.
 
@King Binny Do you think Hughes is a good appointment? He isn't coming from a club that is bustling with unpolished gems

For a start, it's promising that Bournemouth signed 3 of the names mentioned in the Interesting Young Players thread 😛

- Ouattara
- Kerkez
- Scott

Since Hughes' promotion to the role of first-team technical director in 2016, Bournemouth have made some notable signings (either developed to be good players at the club or sold on for sizable profit):

- Ramsdale @ 18 yrs old
- Solanke @ 21 yrs old
- Ake @ 22 yrs old
- Kelly @ 20 yrs old
- Danjuma @ 22 yrs old
- Billing @ 23 yrs old
 
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It was reported last Nov that Hughes made the decision to leave Bournemouth and started serving his notice. Didn't Klopp reveal that he informed FSG of his decision back in Nov too?

Wild guess - either Hughes was leaving to join Edwards & Graham or talk regarding offering Edwards a higher position started back then (despite news abt it coming out only ard last week).


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Can spot a good manager:

Bill Foley: Richard Hughes convinced us to hire Andoni Iraola

Discussing the decision to change head coach ahead of the 2023-24 season, chairman Foley told the Men in Blazers podcast: “It was really a style of play that we were engaging in.

“We were really a counter-attacking team. I felt we needed to be on the offence.

“We needed to be aggressive, we needed to attack. That’s Andoni’s style.

“He’s a (Marcelo) Bielsa student and fast-paced.

“When we had the opportunity, it came to us from Richard Hughes, our technical director. He came to myself and to Neill Blake, the CEO, and then we started talking about it.


“I said if we don’t do this now, we may never have the chance to do this again.

“We just need to be aggressive and we need to be willing to make change. If you don’t make change, then you’re not going to be successful.”

Foley added: “First I listened to Richard Hughes and to Simon Francis, one of his top assistants.

“They were intrigued by Andoni. They convinced Neill Blake that this was a move that we have a chance to do, we have a chance to make and if we don’t make this move, we’re going to regret it in the future.


“That’s really all they had to tell me.

“I did a little research on Andoni and I was satisfied that he would be an agent of change and that’s what I always look for, how can we change, be more effective and constantly improve.

“I believe he’s going to do it.

“People say you may have made a mistake. I said, if I’ve made a mistake, it’s on me, I’ll take responsibility, because I was involved in the decision-making process.”

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Has already worked with a manager who is a member of Gipuzkoa elite coaching crew:

‘Very good connection’ - Iraola admits it is ‘a shame’ to see Hughes depart

Asked for his thoughts on the exit of Hughes, the man who pushed hard to bring Iraola to the club last summer, Cherries’ head coach said: “Obviously for me, it is a shame, because I have been working quite closely with him this season.

“He is very good at his job. As a person, we have had a very good connection since the beginning. I wish him the best for the future.


“But Simon knows how we work. I think the transition is going to be smooth because for sure Simon will have been learning a lot from Richard in these past years.”

Various top clubs, including Liverpool, Newcastle United and Roma, have been linked with a move for Hughes.

“For sure he will have very good chances in the future,” said Iraola.

“But now it is his choice to decide wherever he wants to go or whatever he wants to do.”

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Bournemouth's announcement on Tuesday that first-team technical director Richard Hughes would be leaving at the end of the season did not come as a surprise, though it ends his lengthy association with the Dorset club.

He arrived at Dean Court as a teenager in 1998, joined Portsmouth in 2002, then returned to Bournemouth in 2012 after a year out of the game before retiring for the second time in the summer of 2014 and taking on a backroom post under manager Eddie Howe.

Hughes' exact role and duties rather flew under the radar of most supporters in the early days, but the multilingual, Italy-raised Scot's influence behind the scenes soon became apparent as the Cherries spread their recruitment net across Europe and beyond.

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View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKFtkegI71Y

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Long interview with Bournemouth official website dated 2019:

Special feature: Richard Hughes on recruitment

“The role is primarily heading up the recruitment department and having a structure in place which can put players in front of Eddie and his staff, allowing them to make decisions that are going to help in the recruitment of players,” said Hughes.

“Eddie has a high-pressure job that takes up so much of his time, managing a Premier League team, so you need the right people in the right places to minimise the amount of time dedicated to doing the other important parts of the job, recruitment in this case.

“I’m hopefully loading his gun to fire as many good bullets as possible, that’s what I see my main job as. Then I act as the liaison when he makes his mind up, working alongside chief executive Neill Blake in delivering that. There are other layers to it of course and it becomes all consuming and 24/7 if you allow it to.”


Taking over the position five years ago, when Premier League football was both close and very far away, Hughes has seen a growth in his department, with the pool of players available to make the Cherries better shallowing as the quality required has risen.

“We had some really good people then and most them are still here now,” said Hughes of his early time in the job. “But what we didn’t have was a huge department. We were a Championship club with four or five people, Des Taylor as chief scout, Andy Howe and Steve Fletcher working in the scouting side of things and Craig McKee who is now the recruiting co-ordinator who joined at the same time as me.

“It became apparent in my first season in the role that promotion was a real possibility and therefore there wasn’t a period of time to get comfortable, it became of huge priority to identify players that could help us in the Premier League – and this was a gamble we took on because even if we didn’t gain promotion we’d be well-placed in the Championship.”
 
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Why Liverpool want Richard Hughes as their new sporting director​


As a footballer, Richard Hughes largely went under the radar.

Barring dedicated followers of Portsmouth, where he spent nine seasons, mostly in the Premier League, and Bournemouth, where he had two spells, it is unlikely many will have dwelt on an admirable but unglamorous playing career.

Certainly, few would have had him down to one day land one of the most coveted jobs in world football. Yet it is Hughes that Liverpool appear to want as their new sporting director, helping shape the club’s future without Jurgen Klopp.

Hughes’ proposed appointment — following 10 largely successful years as part of Bournemouth’s recruitment team, including being technical director since 2016 —comes after owners Fenway Sports Group took guidance from Michael Edwards, Liverpool’s former sporting director, who has himself discussed working with the organisation again, albeit with much broader responsibilities.

Hughes’ appeal for Liverpool is not simply due to his relationship with Edwards, who would in effect become his boss at FSG. He has an impressive body of work behind him, but there is no doubt the bond between them — forged when Hughes was an unheralded figure in Portsmouth’s midfield and Edwards worked at the club as one of English football’s first performance analysts — has been instrumental.


One of Hughes’s first tasks at Liverpool will also be his most daunting – helping to recruit a manager to replace Klopp. It was important to FSG that the club had a senior sports executive at the centre of this process because it would allow them to present a structure to potential candidates, including Xabi Alonso, their preferred choice.

Last summer, Hughes brought Andoni Iraola to Bournemouth as the club’s new manager. It will surely be helpful to Hughes and by extension to Liverpool that Iraola is represented by the same management agency as Alonso.

The decision to remove Iraola’s predecessor was viewed as controversial because Gary O’Neil, a former team-mate of Hughes’ at Portsmouth, and another friend of Edwards, had signalled his promise as a manager by rescuing the club’s season.


There has been more evidence of O’Neil’s talent since taking over at Wolverhampton Wanderers. Yet Hughes concurred with Bournemouth’s owner Bill Foley and chief executive, Neill Blake, that Iraola was further along in his development and that his hiring would help Bournemouth improve quicker.

There was no room for sentiment. Bournemouth finished 15th under O’Neil and while the latter’s impact at Wolves has invited debate about whether he should have been sacked, given the club are only two places higher under Iraola, the threat of relegation is far more distant this season. Ultimately, that has vindicated a decision for a club that will always be doing well in the Premier League providing it is not in contention for the drop.

Liverpool’s priorities are at the opposite end of the table and one of the challenges for Hughes will be how he copes with a much sharper and nevertheless wider focus on the success of his work.

At Bournemouth, Hughes worked with five managers, yet four of those have been in the last four years, as the club has fought to reestablish itself in the top flight after relegation in 2020 was followed by the departure of long-serving manager Eddie Howe.

Hughes had known Howe since they were teenagers, starting their playing careers at Bournemouth, and the pair also joined Portsmouth within months of one another. This is where they first encountered Edwards.


Both Hughes and Blake wanted to source Howe’s replacement externally but time was in short supply that summer due to the short gap between seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the former owner, Maxim Demin — who was keen to sell the club — had an eye on finances. Instead, Howe’s assistant Jason Tindall was promoted into the senior role.

When that decision didn’t work out, Jonathan Woodgate was appointed on a short-term contract. Hughes then backed the permanent appointment of Scott Parker, who had achieved the same leap as Bournemouth were trying to make by taking Fulham back to the Premier League.

After that target was reached, Parker departed early last season due to differences in opinion over the transfer budget. Hughes explored the possibility of appointing Marcelo Bielsa or Iraola, whose impressive record at Rayo Vallecano, taking an unfashionable club to promotion and then into mid-table La Liga with a progressive playing style, caught the eye.

Iraola was not available at that point, but when he left Rayo at the end of last season, Bournemouth’s board made their move despite O’Neil’s impressive performance. Hughes and his staff believed that, while O’Neil was an excellent up-and-coming coach, Iraola’s record offered greater guarantees.

On-field performances will be a key barometer of Hughes’ success, but he will also be judged on transfers. Given that Howe won promotion into the Premier League in 2015 with a team that had an average age the wrong side of 25, there was an acceptance at Bournemouth that the club would have to change that profile in order to remain in the top flight.

Initially, this involved more pragmatic experienced-based signings. Yet some of the older, physically declining footballers that joined over the next five years such as Sylvain Distin, Jermain Defoe and Jack Wilshere did not really fit in.

Gradually, Bournemouth started operating in a younger market. Yet as the team drifted towards relegation in 2020, Howe, and by extension Hughes, drew criticism for the money spent on players like Dominic Solanke, Jordon Ibe and Brad Smith. Each of these had arrived from Liverpool, where Edwards was operating and championed for raising so much cash from three players who were out of favour under Klopp.


Hughes warned in 2019 that it takes time for players to settle in a new environment and it was wiser to “look at the product after a year and a half rather than a week and a half down the line”.

It would take Solanke roughly that amount of time to find his feet, though by then Bournemouth were in the Championship. He has since proven to be an astute investment, who Bournemouth could make a profit on if they were to engage some of the leading clubs allegedly wanting to sign him as a 26 year old.

Hughes would also engineer deals for Tyrone Mings (from Ipswich Town), Benik Afobe (Wolves), Max Gradel (Saint-Etienne), Lewis Cook (Leeds United), Nathan Ake (Chelsea), Aaron Ramdsale and David Brooks (Sheffield United), Jefferson Lerma (Levante), Phillip Billing (Huddersfield Town), Arnaut Danjuma (Club Brugge) and Lloyd Kelly (Bristol City).

All but one of these players either came from abroad or the lower leagues of England and have, either at Bournemouth or elsewhere, proven themselves as being capable of playing at a higher level. The exception is Ake, who was not in Chelsea’s first team when he moved to Dean Court, but has since emerged as a key component in Manchester City’s defence under Pep Guardiola.

More recently, Hughes has been able to bring exciting young foreign talent to the club that was previously considered out of reach, as well as highly regarded Championship players. Marcus Tavernier, Antoine Semenyo, Luis Sinisterra, Alex Scott, Marcos Senesi, Justin Kluivert have all had a good impact although Tyler Adams has barely been seen since he arrived from Leeds in August after Chelsea pulled out of a deal to sign him following his medical.

Since Hughes’ appointment as Bournemouth’s technical director the club’s recruitment department tripled in size, though it remained small by Premier League standards. Hughes believed that a tighter knit group helped breed better cohesion. The group included Simon Ward, the brother of Julian, who succeeded Edwards briefly at Liverpool.

Hughes, a rare example of a player who made a success of a technical director role in the Premier League, was not visible on a match day at Bournemouth because he was scouting potential signings.
His role was not a public facing one, either. Though he rarely met the media, in 2019, he described his job as “loading (Howe’s) gun to fire as many good bullets as possible”.

Howe would have the first and the last word on all transfers and Hughes was active in between, handing over financial particulars to be dealt with by the CEO, Blake. In a different interview, Hughes suggested that Howe had the ability to “make bad decisions look decent and decent decisions to look great”, a phrase which may have been uttered about Klopp at Liverpool.

Hughes’ playing career taught him about the politics of football and its sharper edges, experiences which he would need to lean on at Liverpool.

In 2005, while at Portsmouth, Hughes was reminded of his responsibilities by the Football Association after betting that Harry Redknapp would return to the club as manager. He recalled the incident in an interview with The Athletic as being especially troubling because he considered himself a “goody two-shoes”.

His spell at Fratton Park also ended painfully, with a contract dispute playing out across two years. There were claims that Hughes and team-mate Michael Brown refused to play for the club, but Hughes later suggested he was asked to leave the team bus on the way to Norwich for contractual reasons.


“I was gutted that people thought me and Browny were driving the situation,” he reflected. “We were being dictated to. We trusted the people running the club. That was the mistake. I’d dedicated my career to being a team player and it was being made out I wasn’t.”

Hughes’ playing career may have been centred on the south coast, but he has a broad life experience. He had spent much of his childhood in Milan because of his father’s job at Penguin Books, joining Arsenal from Atalanta’s youth set-up, and speaks Italian fluently. He owns four Italian restaurants in London with his two brothers.

Cesare Prandelli, his youth coach at Atalanta who subsequently led Italy to the final of Euro 2012, was a mentor and in 2016, Hughes — who also worked as a television pundit on Serie A games — spoke of the “Italianism” in his game. His role, he said, heavily involved “taking one for the team”, a point he took quite literally when he was butted by Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo in 2007.

Hughes understood that a key part of his game was knowing when to stop counter-attacks, and “being selective where I should pick yellow cards up”.


One moment he remembered especially was a “waist-high” tackle on Wigan Athletic’s Mario Melchiot towards the end of a season when, as a Portsmouth midfielder, he helped the team escape relegation despite seeming doomed.

Portsmouth were 2-1 up at the time and the Dutch defender had sight of goal. “It was something I grew up with,” he told The News, Portsmouth’s local newspaper. “Either the man gets past you or the ball. Never both together.”

Understanding his limitations proved to be key to his longevity. “If you feel valued at a level you aspire to play, it’s worth it,” he reasoned.

Across seven years in the Premier League with Portsmouth, he would never feature more than 26 times in a campaign. He averaged just 17 appearances a season but he described that record as a “calculated decision”, because rather than claim at the end of his career he had featured in hundreds of games in the lower leagues of English football, he would prefer to say he had played at Old Trafford or Anfield.

And however unlikely the journey has been, Anfield, seemingly, is where his future now lies.
 
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Michael Edwards close to FSG role with Richard Hughes as Liverpool sporting director​


Michael Edwards is close to agreeing a senior role with Fenway Sports Group, which would include the former Liverpool executive taking oversight of the club’s football operations.

Liverpool are in the midst of a huge transition following manager Jurgen Klopp’s decision to step aside this summer, with his closest staff also scheduled to leave and sporting director Jorg Schmadtke already having departed.

If Edwards accepts FSG’s offer, the sporting director position is expected to be filled by Richard Hughes, whose exit as Bournemouth technical director was confirmed on Wednesday.

FSG targeted Edwards to spearhead the restructure — floating the idea of him occupying a top job at Liverpool or inside the ownership group — but he initially turned down the opportunity.

However, the US group continued its pursuit and Edwards is now on course to join in a far broader capacity that encompasses Liverpool, rather than specifically returning to Anfield.

While a deal is not yet done, discussions are progressing and it is anticipated a definitive resolution will be reached early next week.

The appointment of Hughes has always depended on FSG securing Edwards and, having served notice to the south coast team some time ago, the ex-Scotland international has held discussions with multiple suitors since the January transfer window closed.

Edwards is known to regard Hughes among the industry’s leading operators and his move to install Andoni Iraola as Bournemouth head coach last June underlined his credentials.

Although Hughes has long been touted as a possible candidate, it only became a concrete direction of travel once FSG made progress during talks with Edwards in the past week.

It is unclear what Edwards arriving would mean for his commitments to Ludonautics, a sports advisory firm launched alongside his former Liverpool colleague Dr Ian Graham.

The company is thriving, with Edwards heavily involved, but as a non-executive director he would not be prevented from entering into employment elsewhere.


Those privy to the matter say the Englishman has no intention of being a sporting director again and would only contemplate going back to an individual organisation if the scope was wider and more stimulating — enabling him to empower the sporting director and others on the ground.

That would form part of his remit in a new-look FSG set-up that is growing across different sectors, as shown by the appointment of Theo Epstein from the Boston Red Sox and promotions for Sam Kennedy (to chief executive) and Billy Hogan (to chief executive of its internal division).

What did Edwards do at Liverpool last time?
It’s clear why Fenway Sports Group didn’t take no for an answer when Michael Edwards turned down their initial approach about a possible return to Liverpool earlier this year.

Senior executives John W Henry, Tom Werner and Mike Gordon view Edwards as absolutely integral to the success the club have enjoyed under their ownership and have been desperate to get him back on board to help shape the post-Jurgen Klopp era at Anfield.

Edwards earned their respect initially with his work as head of performance and analysis after joining Liverpool from Tottenham in 2011. Five years later he was promoted to the role of sporting director and recruited the team which won the Champions League in 2019 and the Premier League title in 2020.

It was Edwards who pushed hard for the signing of Mohamed Salah from Roma in 2017 and convinced Klopp that he would light up the Premier League. He also secured deals for the transformative duo of Alisson and Virgil van Dijk, as well as bringing in the likes of Sadio Mane, Andy Robertson, Fabinho and Ibrahima Konate.

He earned a reputation as a shrewd negotiator – holding out for a record fee of £142million when Philippe Coutinho was sold to Barcelona in January 2018. He also secured hefty fees for fringe stars such as Mamadou Sakho (£26m, Crystal Palace), Dominic Solanke (£19m, Bournemouth), Danny Ward (£12.5m, Leicester City) and Danny Ings (£20m, Southampton).

With a data-led approach, Edwards made FSG’s self-sustaining business model work and established a close bond with FSG president Gordon.

The owners always admired his ability to take the emotion out of the decision making process and the fact he was never shy to question and challenge other senior figures, including Klopp.


They didn’t want to lose him in the summer of 2022 when Edwards decided to step down following the end of his contract.

With Edwards not interested in returning to his former job as sporting director, FSG have had to offer a more wide-ranging role with greater responsibilities.

There’s a lot of uncertainty at Liverpool with so much change on the horizon this summer. FSG view Edwards as the perfect candidate to put the right structure and personnel in place to guide the club through that transition.

Who is Richard Hughes?
Hughes, 44, spent a decade as Bournemouth’s technical director before his departure was announced earlier this week.

He was appointed to that role in 2014 because of the strength of his relationship with former manager, Eddie Howe, who he had known as a teenager after they entered the club’s first team together.

After they both transferred to Portsmouth within a few months of one another in 2002, they met Edwards a year later when he moved to Fratton Park as a performance analyst.

Howe spent much of his two years at Portsmouth injured and this led to him considering where his future might lie after his career was over. Both he and Hughes became closer to Edwards. Though their paths would diverge over the years that followed, they remained connected because of the nature of their work.

As Liverpool’s sporting director, Edwards would later sell Jordon Ibe, Brad Smith and Solanke to Bournemouth, managed by Howe and with Hughes installed as technical director, for considerable sums. Harry Wilson also enjoyed a year on loan at the south coast club.

After Howe departed in 2020 following relegation from the Premier League, Hughes remained. He has since increasingly operated in the European market. Some of his more recent eye-catching recommendations include Dynamo Kiev’s Illia Zabarnyi and AZ Alkmaar’s Milos Kerkez, players who were interesting some of the continent’s leading clubs.


What does this mean for Liverpool’s manager search?
FSG has maintained that it wants Liverpool’s new sporting director to lead the search for the club’s next manager, although some progress has already been made.

Until now, the hunt has been headed by FSG president Gordon, who asked Liverpool’s data analysts to draw up a longlist of possible candidates.

The preferred profile is a young manager who has overachieved with the resources at his disposal and has a record of developing young talent.

As The Athletic reported last week, Xabi Alonso is the current frontrunner
, with the former Liverpool midfielder having taken Bayer Leverkusen to within sight of the Bundesliga title this season. Bayern Munich’s interest in him is a complicating factor, however.

Other possible candidates to have scored well on data include Sporting Lisbon’s Ruben Amorim, 39, who has a €10million (£8.6m; $10.8m) buy-out clause, and Julian Nagelsmann, the current Germany manager.

Other managers — such as Brighton’s Roberto De Zerbi, Newcastle United’s Eddie Howe and Lens’ Franck Haise — also score high on data but are considered less likely to make Liverpool’s final shortlist.


What else could be changing at Liverpool this summer?
It is not just Klopp’s departure as manager which is creating uncertainty at Anfield.

In July, three key players — Salah, Van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold — will enter the final year of their contracts and no meaningful progress has been made on renegotiating terms.

While none are agitating for a transfer — despite interest from Saudi Arabia in Salah — a key part of Hughes’ role, should he join, will be to accelerate negotiations.


There will also be changes behind the scenes, with Klopp’s long-serving assistant Pep Ljinders, Peter Krawietz and Vitor Matos all leaving the club, although any new manager would ordinarily be expected to bring in his own coaching staff.

Edwards’ return also invites questions about the future of Gordon, who has previously acted as its lead on Liverpool matters.

FSG has been keen for more decisions relating to the club to come from Merseyside.

Gordon, who quietly became more influential from 2012 onwards, was a key supporter of Edwards in the early years of his first spell at Liverpool when his data-influenced approach received scrutiny.

Gordon has operated from Brookline in Boston throughout his involvement and acted as the owners’ point of contact for Klopp since his appointment in 2015.
 

Michael Edwards close to FSG role with Richard Hughes as Liverpool sporting director​


Michael Edwards is close to agreeing a senior role with Fenway Sports Group, which would include the former Liverpool executive taking oversight of the club’s football operations.

Liverpool are in the midst of a huge transition following manager Jurgen Klopp’s decision to step aside this summer, with his closest staff also scheduled to leave and sporting director Jorg Schmadtke already having departed.

If Edwards accepts FSG’s offer, the sporting director position is expected to be filled by Richard Hughes, whose exit as Bournemouth technical director was confirmed on Wednesday.

FSG targeted Edwards to spearhead the restructure — floating the idea of him occupying a top job at Liverpool or inside the ownership group — but he initially turned down the opportunity.

However, the US group continued its pursuit and Edwards is now on course to join in a far broader capacity that encompasses Liverpool, rather than specifically returning to Anfield.

While a deal is not yet done, discussions are progressing and it is anticipated a definitive resolution will be reached early next week.

The appointment of Hughes has always depended on FSG securing Edwards and, having served notice to the south coast team some time ago, the ex-Scotland international has held discussions with multiple suitors since the January transfer window closed.

Edwards is known to regard Hughes among the industry’s leading operators and his move to install Andoni Iraola as Bournemouth head coach last June underlined his credentials.

Although Hughes has long been touted as a possible candidate, it only became a concrete direction of travel once FSG made progress during talks with Edwards in the past week.

It is unclear what Edwards arriving would mean for his commitments to Ludonautics, a sports advisory firm launched alongside his former Liverpool colleague Dr Ian Graham.

The company is thriving, with Edwards heavily involved, but as a non-executive director he would not be prevented from entering into employment elsewhere.


Those privy to the matter say the Englishman has no intention of being a sporting director again and would only contemplate going back to an individual organisation if the scope was wider and more stimulating — enabling him to empower the sporting director and others on the ground.

That would form part of his remit in a new-look FSG set-up that is growing across different sectors, as shown by the appointment of Theo Epstein from the Boston Red Sox and promotions for Sam Kennedy (to chief executive) and Billy Hogan (to chief executive of its internal division).

What did Edwards do at Liverpool last time?
It’s clear why Fenway Sports Group didn’t take no for an answer when Michael Edwards turned down their initial approach about a possible return to Liverpool earlier this year.

Senior executives John W Henry, Tom Werner and Mike Gordon view Edwards as absolutely integral to the success the club have enjoyed under their ownership and have been desperate to get him back on board to help shape the post-Jurgen Klopp era at Anfield.

Edwards earned their respect initially with his work as head of performance and analysis after joining Liverpool from Tottenham in 2011. Five years later he was promoted to the role of sporting director and recruited the team which won the Champions League in 2019 and the Premier League title in 2020.

It was Edwards who pushed hard for the signing of Mohamed Salah from Roma in 2017 and convinced Klopp that he would light up the Premier League. He also secured deals for the transformative duo of Alisson and Virgil van Dijk, as well as bringing in the likes of Sadio Mane, Andy Robertson, Fabinho and Ibrahima Konate.

He earned a reputation as a shrewd negotiator – holding out for a record fee of £142million when Philippe Coutinho was sold to Barcelona in January 2018. He also secured hefty fees for fringe stars such as Mamadou Sakho (£26m, Crystal Palace), Dominic Solanke (£19m, Bournemouth), Danny Ward (£12.5m, Leicester City) and Danny Ings (£20m, Southampton).

With a data-led approach, Edwards made FSG’s self-sustaining business model work and established a close bond with FSG president Gordon.

The owners always admired his ability to take the emotion out of the decision making process and the fact he was never shy to question and challenge other senior figures, including Klopp.


They didn’t want to lose him in the summer of 2022 when Edwards decided to step down following the end of his contract.

With Edwards not interested in returning to his former job as sporting director, FSG have had to offer a more wide-ranging role with greater responsibilities.

There’s a lot of uncertainty at Liverpool with so much change on the horizon this summer. FSG view Edwards as the perfect candidate to put the right structure and personnel in place to guide the club through that transition.

Who is Richard Hughes?
Hughes, 44, spent a decade as Bournemouth’s technical director before his departure was announced earlier this week.

He was appointed to that role in 2014 because of the strength of his relationship with former manager, Eddie Howe, who he had known as a teenager after they entered the club’s first team together.

After they both transferred to Portsmouth within a few months of one another in 2002, they met Edwards a year later when he moved to Fratton Park as a performance analyst.

Howe spent much of his two years at Portsmouth injured and this led to him considering where his future might lie after his career was over. Both he and Hughes became closer to Edwards. Though their paths would diverge over the years that followed, they remained connected because of the nature of their work.

As Liverpool’s sporting director, Edwards would later sell Jordon Ibe, Brad Smith and Solanke to Bournemouth, managed by Howe and with Hughes installed as technical director, for considerable sums. Harry Wilson also enjoyed a year on loan at the south coast club.

After Howe departed in 2020 following relegation from the Premier League, Hughes remained. He has since increasingly operated in the European market. Some of his more recent eye-catching recommendations include Dynamo Kiev’s Illia Zabarnyi and AZ Alkmaar’s Milos Kerkez, players who were interesting some of the continent’s leading clubs.


What does this mean for Liverpool’s manager search?
FSG has maintained that it wants Liverpool’s new sporting director to lead the search for the club’s next manager, although some progress has already been made.

Until now, the hunt has been headed by FSG president Gordon, who asked Liverpool’s data analysts to draw up a longlist of possible candidates.

The preferred profile is a young manager who has overachieved with the resources at his disposal and has a record of developing young talent.

As The Athletic reported last week, Xabi Alonso is the current frontrunner
, with the former Liverpool midfielder having taken Bayer Leverkusen to within sight of the Bundesliga title this season. Bayern Munich’s interest in him is a complicating factor, however.

Other possible candidates to have scored well on data include Sporting Lisbon’s Ruben Amorim, 39, who has a €10million (£8.6m; $10.8m) buy-out clause, and Julian Nagelsmann, the current Germany manager.

Other managers — such as Brighton’s Roberto De Zerbi, Newcastle United’s Eddie Howe and Lens’ Franck Haise — also score high on data but are considered less likely to make Liverpool’s final shortlist.


What else could be changing at Liverpool this summer?
It is not just Klopp’s departure as manager which is creating uncertainty at Anfield.

In July, three key players — Salah, Van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold — will enter the final year of their contracts and no meaningful progress has been made on renegotiating terms.

While none are agitating for a transfer — despite interest from Saudi Arabia in Salah — a key part of Hughes’ role, should he join, will be to accelerate negotiations.


There will also be changes behind the scenes, with Klopp’s long-serving assistant Pep Ljinders, Peter Krawietz and Vitor Matos all leaving the club, although any new manager would ordinarily be expected to bring in his own coaching staff.

Edwards’ return also invites questions about the future of Gordon, who has previously acted as its lead on Liverpool matters.

FSG has been keen for more decisions relating to the club to come from Merseyside.

Gordon, who quietly became more influential from 2012 onwards, was a key supporter of Edwards in the early years of his first spell at Liverpool when his data-influenced approach received scrutiny.

Gordon has operated from Brookline in Boston throughout his involvement and acted as the owners’ point of contact for Klopp since his appointment in 2015.

Need someone to Binnify this… 🙂
 
Tyrone Mings, Callum Wilson, Milos Kerkez, Dominic Solanke, Nathan Ake, Aaron Ramsdale, Phillip Billing, Danjuma, Jefferson Lerma, Alex Scott and the icing on the cake, Sir Jordan Ibe.

I do think on the whole it is quite impressive work, a few errors aside... We are talking about Bournemouth after all. They did overpay but it's not like they had players lining up to join them.
 
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