Michael Edwards returns to Liverpool: New CEO could be key to Xabi Alonso appointment
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The restructuring of Liverpool is well and truly underway, with Fenway Sports Group confirming towards that Michael Edwards has returned to the club to lead its football operations.
Edwards served as Liverpool’s Sporting Director from 2016 to 2021, where he oversaw the key transfers of the likes of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker, amongst others.
Now, with Jurgen Klopp leaving Liverpool at the end of the year, Edwards has agreed to return to the club, where he’ll not only be key in appointing the club’s next manager, but also in helping FSG find a new football club to purchase.
Michael Edwards returns to Liverpool
FSG initially approached Edwards several months ago about returning to Liverpool, just shy of three years after he left, but the former Sporting Director said no, leading to many feeling as if a deal was unlikely.
However, two weeks ago, several reputable journalists claimed that Edwards was set for face-to-face talks with Liverpool’s ownership team in Boston, where he was offered a bigger role within the organisation.
Edwards has accepted, and he’ll return to Liverpool on June 1. It’s worth noting that he won’t be serving as Sporting Director, the position he previously held with the club, with one of his first jobs being to find the man to fulfil that role, according to Ben Jacobs.
However, that job might not be too challenging, with Fabrizio Romano reporting that Edwards’ close personal friend, Richard Hughes, has already agreed to join Liverpool from Bournemouth, with that move set to be completed at the end of the season.
Odds on Xabi Alonso becoming Liverpool’s next manager
If Hughes does join the club, he and Edwards will be tasked with finding Liverpool’s next manager, but many feel it’s a formality at this stage that the club looks to appoint Xabi Alonso, who won the Champions League with the Merseyside outfit in 2005.
Xabi is the front-runner to become Liverpool’s next boss with the bookies, for what it’s worth. The former Real Madrid man is 4/6 to take over from Klopp and lead the Reds in the Premier League next season.
However, FSG will face strong competition for Alonso’s signature, with another of the 2010 World Cup winners former clubs interested in bringing him back, this time as manager.
Bayern Munich, who announced last month that Thomas Tuchel will step down from his post as head coach at the end of the season, are said to be very keen on bringing Alonso in as their next manager, having been impressed with the work he’s done at Bayer Leverkusen.
It’s not too surprising to hear that Bayern are impressed with Alonso’s time at Leverkusen, especially considering the Spanish international looks to have become the first manager since Klopp in 2012 to deny Bayern the Bundesliga title, with his side 10 points clear at the top of the table, with just nine games left to play.
Liverpool will feel confident in their attempts to bring Alonso back to the club though, and the dominos might have already started to fall.
Edwards’ return to Liverpool has been confirmed, and it’s widely expected that Hughes’ appointment as Sporting Director will subsequently be made official over the coming days, at least if reports are to be believed.
Hughes was obviously hired on merit, having overseen the signings of players like Nathan Ake and Dominic Solanke during his time at Bournemouth, but FSG may also have been interested to hear of his relationship with Inaki Ibanez.
Ibanez is the agent of Andoni Iraola, the man who Hughes brought to Bournemouth just last year as the club’s next manager after Gary O’Neil. Ibanez other client is Alonso, and it’s been reported that Hughes has a ‘good relationship’ with the agent, which should make a deal easier to complete.
Odds on Liverpool winning the Premier League
While Edwards and Hughes may be focused on the hunt for Liverpool’s next manager, Klopp is very much still in the job, and the German will be fully focused on his attempts to bring a historic quad to the club in what is his final season as manager.
Liverpool have already won the Carabao Cup, beating Chelsea in the final just over two weeks ago. Now, the Reds will want to add the Premier League to their collection, which at the time of writing, they’re 2/1 to do.
All odds and markets are correct as of the date of publication.
