Michael Edwards close to agreeing Liverpool return
- Edwards stepped down from his role as sporting director in 2022 after several successful years
- Former transfer guru offered a more senior role with Liverpool's parent company
- Richard Hughes could follow as new sporting director
By Tom Gott
Michael Edwards is close to reaching an agreement with Fenway Sports Group that would see him return to Liverpool in a senior role.
Edwards stepped down from his role as sporting director in 2022 after several years of incredible success, which saw him build a reputation as one of the best recruitment specialists in world football. Chelsea offered him an immediate return to football that year but Edwards wanted time away from the game first.
As 90min reported, Edwards is not interested in a return to his previous sporting director role and has made it clear that he would only entertain the offer of a greater role with more control over proceedings.
That offer has now been extended to Edwards by Liverpool. According to The Athletic, the 44-year-old is close to a deal with FSG which would see him return to Anfield to take control of the club’s football operations.
Liverpool want someone with Edwards' expertise to assist a staff rebuild which includes a search for both a new manager and sporting director.
Should Edwards accept this offer, the sporting director role is likely to be handed to Richard Hughes, who recently confirmed his departure from Bournemouth.
Hughes has held talks with a number of clubs but is expected to join Liverpool if given the chance to work under Edwards, who sees the former Bournemouth chief as one of the finest around in his position.
The pair first met at Portsmouth in 2003 and have remained close since, with Liverpool and Bournemouth often doing business with each other in the transfer market. Jordon Ibe, Brad Smith and Dominic Solanke all swapped Anfield for the Vitality Stadium, while Harry Wilson also made the switch on loan.
Liverpool want to put a new sporting director in place before they ramp up their search for a new manager.
Bayer Leverkusen's Xabi Alonso is the current top target but Liverpool will only begin to make formal moves once the new hierarchy is in place, after which there could be an alternative target.
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