Liverpool’s former sporting director Michael Edwards has returned to oversee the club’s football operations post-Jürgen Klopp.
Edwards met senior executives of Fenway Sports Group, Liverpool’s owner, in Boston recently to discuss the details of his new role and has been confirmed as chief executive officer of football for FSG, which intends to add another club to its portfolio.
The 44-year-old rejected an approach from FSG in January to return as sporting director but has accepted this more senior position. He will effectively assume the responsibilities held by FSG’s president, Mike Gordon, who is reducing his involvement.
- Download the Guardian app from the iOS App Store on iPhone or the Google Play store on Android by searching for 'The Guardian'.
- If you already have the Guardian app, make sure you’re on the most recent version.
- In the Guardian app, tap the Menu button at the bottom right, then go to Settings (the gear icon), then Notifications.
- Turn on sport notifications.
Edwards’s immediate task will be to appoint a new sporting director – Bournemouth’s technical director, Richard Hughes, is expected to fill that vacancy – and together they will recruit Klopp’s successor as Liverpool manager. Xabi Alonso, the former Liverpool midfielder who has guided Bayer Leverkusen to the top of the Bundesliga, is the frontrunner.
Edwards said he was “humbled by the desire and persistence” FSG showed in wanting to work with him again. “It was vital for me that, if I did return, it had to be with renewed vigour and energy,” he said. “In practice, this means having fresh challenges and opportunities.
“As such, one of the biggest factors in my decision is the commitment to acquire and oversee an additional club, growing this area of their organisation. I believe that to remain competitive, investment and expansion of the current football portfolio is necessary.”
FSG has made a concerted effort to rehire Edwards, who left Liverpool after 10 highly successful years in 2022 and has rejected numerous approaches from other clubs, including Manchester United and Chelsea. He has been working as a consultant at the sports advisory business Ludonautics, a company founded by Liverpool’s former director of research Ian Graham, but will resign on 1 June.
“Michael is one of the most formidable executive talents in world football and John [Henry], Tom [Werner] and I are absolutely thrilled to have secured his services for our business,” Gordon said.
Bournemouth recently announced that Hughes would leave at the end of this season after a decade in their recruitment team. He has been technical director for the past eight years and led the appointment of Andoni Iraola – who shares an agent with Alonso – as the head coach last summer. The former midfielder got to know Edwards when he played for Portsmouth, where the latter worked as a performance analyst, and confirmation that he will take the job is expected soon.
FSG has been searching for a permanent sporting director since Julian Ward announced he would be leaving in 2023. Jörg Schmadtke was a short-term appointment to help Klopp with Liverpool’s midfield rebuild last summer and left at the end of the January transfer window.
