Michael Edwards has wasted no time in making his first appointment at Liverpool Football Club given that being appointed FSG CEO of Football.
As expected, Richard Hughes has been confirmed as the Reds’ new carrying director and will formally begin his new role at Anfield on June 1. He is presently the first-team technical director at AFC Bournemouth, but it had already been demonstrated that he would go away the club at the cease of the season.
One of Hughes’ first – and largest – tasks at Liverpool will be to perceive and recruit Jurgen Klopp’s successor. Former Reds midfielder Xabi Alonso is one of the favourites for the job, having overseen a amazing transformation because taking over at Bayer Leverkusen, who are in the hunt for three trophies, together with a first-ever Bundesliga title.
Hughes already boasts a correct relationship with Alonso’s agent and representatives – Inaki Ibanez of IDUB Global – after appointing Andoni Iraola as Bournemouth head teach closing summer. Iraola, who has led the Cherries to thirteenth in the Premier League and effective safety by means of March, is additionally represented by means of the IDUB Global group.
However, Alonso is not the only serious candidate to change Klopp, with Sporting Lisbon’s Ruben Amorim, Brighton’s Roberto De Zerbi and Germany’s Julian Naglesmann amongst those stated to be beneath consideration.
In the case of De Zerbi, Hughes has tried to appoint him before. If now not for a delayed takeover at Bournemouth, the Italian was lined up to replace Scott Parker in August 2022.
Hughes has been headhunted by way of Edwards, who holds his fellow 44-year-old in the best regard, having observed his career closely, and has had a longstanding wish to work with the former Scotland worldwide as a result.
The ECHO is aware Edwards is believed to have been surprised that Hughes, along with Crystal Palace’s Dougie Freedman, was now not a candidate to be interviewed by Liverpool’s proprietors FSG when Julian Ward announced his intention to step down as the club’s wearing director remaining season.
The pair boast a professional and non-public relationship that dates again more than 20 years from their time collectively at Portsmouth, when Edwards was once a junior information analyst and Hughes nonetheless a player.
It was at Fratton Park the place their relationship blossomed, and sowed the preliminary seeds that have resulted in Hughes’ appointment at Anfield two decades laterIt is recalled how Hughes grabbed the attention of the analysis crew as he would no longer solely are seeking out statistics and clips of his own performances, however also of Portsmouth’s upcoming opponents, as properly as clubs from throughout the Premier League, Football League and overseas.
As a result, Edwards is believed to have admired his counterpart’s footballing knowledge, and potential to analyse and articulate his ideas long earlier than turning into a technical director.
While it used to be assumed that Hughes would possibly embark on a teaching career, Eddie Howe as an alternative persuaded him to be part of the ‘other side’ and serve as the ‘football voice’ alongside CEO Neill Blake in the back of the scenes at the Vitality Stadium. Joining Bournemouth’s recruitment group in 2014, Hughes was promoted to technical director two years later.
His tenure coincided with a spell the place Bournemouth finished ninth, 12th and 14th in the Premier League, as the Cherries sooner or later punched above their weight in the English pinnacle flight. And whilst they suffered relegation in 2020, they again two years later and are currently well-placed to higher their 15th-placed finish of ultimate season.
Consequently, Hughes dealt directly with Edwards a wide variety of instances during the latter’s authentic stint as Liverpool sporting directorIn his advisory role with Ludonautics, Edwards is understood to have frequently told main clubs that Hughes have to be on their radar. Their loss is Liverpool’s gain.
Hughes first caught Edwards’ eye in the analysts’ room at Fratton Park and the admiring glances have continued to grow over the previous two decades. Impressing behind the scenes at Bournemouth, he’s now at the big desk as opposed to competing towards it.
As a result, it is an interesting prospect to see what Hughes can now achieve having been handed an probability at one of European football’s elite clubs. Such a move has been over 20 years in the making, with the man himself no doubt decided to make certain it was once nicely really worth the wait for Edwards
