Liverpool’s owners met Michael Edwards in Boston on Sunday in their attempts to convince the club’s former sporting director to shape the post-Jürgen Klopp era at Anfield.
Fenway Sports Group’s principal owner, John W Henry, and president, Mike Gordon, were among the senior executives who held talks with Edwards about returning to the club he left in 2022. The 44-year-old, a consultant at the sports advisory business Ludonautics, is regarded by FSG as the ideal candidate to lead Liverpool’s transition when Klopp steps down after nine hugely successful years as manager this summer. However, the club’s owners will need to offer a more powerful role than sporting director to tempt Edwards back.
Edwards has rejected numerous approaches from clubs, including Chelsea, since ending a 10-year association with Liverpool and playing a key role in the club’s transformation under Klopp. He turned down an initial approach from FSG in January regarding resuming his career as Liverpool’s sporting director and is likely to want total control in a more far-reaching position, such as head of football operations, to accept the invitation to return.
Edwards would be expected to head the recruitment and analytics departments. He would lead the appointments of any new sporting director and Liverpool’s manager, with Xabi Alonso the front-runner to succeed Klopp. The club’s new football structure is expected to take shape in the coming weeks.
FSG’s concerted efforts to rehire Edwards demonstrates its conviction that he is the best person to shape Liverpool’s next era. The owners have been searching for a permanent sporting director since Julian Ward, Edwards’ former right-hand man and replacement, unexpectedly announced he would be leaving in the summer of 2023. Jörg Schmadtke was brought in as a temporary measure to assist Klopp’s rebuild last summer and departed at the end of the January transfer window. Klopp’s decision to leave has changed the requirements for the new sporting director, from one who could work alongside a well-established manager to dealing with a period of transition.
Alonso is the leading candidate for the Liverpool manager’s job but the Premier League leaders, unlike Bayern Munich, wish to respect his attempts to win the Bundesliga with Bayer Leverkusen rather than enter a public courtship of their popular former midfielder. Alonso is acutely aware of Liverpool’s interest but the Sporting coach Rúben Amorim, who has other suitors, is also under consideration.
