Search for Klopp’s successor will go into overdrive now Hughes role is confirmed
Liverpool’s hunt for Jurgen Klopp’s successor will accelerate following confirmation of Richard Hughes’s appointment as sporting director.
Hughes is the first key arrival since Michael Edwards was named as owner Fenway Sports Group’s football chief, as he made luring the
Glasgow-born executive from Bournemouth a top priority.
Hughes’s first pressing matter is assessing the candidates to become the next manager.
Some of the names on the shortlist are well-documented; Bayer Leverkusen’s Xabi Alonso, who is a former Liverpool player, Brighton’s Roberto De Zerbi and Sporting Lisbon’s Ruben Amorim.
Although Hughes and Edwards do not officially start in their new posts until June, Liverpool have already begun extensive background checks on prime targets.
Hughes, who will forge a day-today relationship with the next coach, will be entrusted to zero in on a preferred candidate.
The club knew a sporting director would be in position before they
could consider a formal approach to the most coveted coaches. Hughes’s Anfield appointment became an open secret after Bournemouth announced he would be leaving at the end of this season following a 10-year stint as part of their football operations.
The guessing game as to where he was heading did not last long once Edwards was confirmed as FSG’S football supremo.
Edwards rejoined Liverpool this month after a prolonged negotiation with FSG president Mike Gordon. He had earlier rejected the chance to return as a sporting director, but his reiterating of that
stance disguised the true nature of his talks with Liverpool’s owners as they offered a more senior role.
Hughes, a former Bournemouth and Portsmouth midfielder, is regarded as one of the most astute talent-spotters in the Premier League, and those credentials will now be put to the test at one of the world’s biggest clubs.
As was the case with Gordon when he delegated many responsibilities to Edwards – especially in overseeing the club’s famed data analysis and scouting department – so it will be for Hughes.
The 44-year-old has plenty on his plate from day one, with contract