Sky reporter shares Richard Hughes update which’ll have Liverpool fans beaming with excitement
Michael Edwards’ return to Liverpool was confirmed on Tuesday, and it seems to be only a matter of time before Richard Hughes joins him at Anfield.
The pair know each other well from their mutual time at Portsmouth, when the former was a little-known performance analyst and the latter was playing in Pompey’s midfield (The Athletic).
The former Scotland international confirmed last week that he’ll be stepping down as Bournemouth’s technical director at the end of this season, and that appears to have paved the way for him to take on a similar role on Merseyside.
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Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, Sky Sports reporter Dharmesh Sheth said: “The first appointment which will be imminent will be Richard Hughes. We know that he’s left Bournemouth and he will then come in as the sporting director, and then that is when the crucial appointment will have to be made.
“When we talk about Manchester United, that they’ve got to hit the jackpot with every single transfer, Liverpool have effectively done that in the past few years and hence why they’ve been really successful.
“They’ve had a team and a recruitment team in place for the most part with Michael Edwards involved, until he left, alongside Jurgen Klopp and the recruitment team. Now you’ve got a situation where Klopp is leaving.”
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It now seems a matter of when rather than if Hughes will be confirmed as Liverpool’s new sporting director, filling the vacancy left by Jorg Schmadtke’s departure at the end of the January transfer window.
The sooner that the 44-year-old is installed, the quicker that he and Edwards can get to work on the process of appointing Jurgen Klopp’s successor as manager and plotting a plan of action in terms of recruitment in the summer market.
Another major plus point of his prospective arrival at Anfield is his working relationship with agent Neil Fewings, who represents some players at Bournemouth and, crucially, Virgil van Dijk. That could help to facilitate a new contract for the Reds captain, whose current deal expires in June 2025.
The two sporting directors that Liverpool have had since Edwards both spent less than 12 months in the role (Julian Ward and Schmadtke). The new CEO of Football surely isn’t back for a fleeting spell, and if Hughes does come on board – as now seems inevitable – you’d like to think he’s in it for the long haul, too.
That sense of stability and continuity will have Kopites beaming with excitement as to what the future holds.
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