Steven Gerrard has made his first swoop as new manager of Al Ettifaq by poaching Liverpool analyst Ray Shearwood.
Gerrard was officially confirmed as the next boss of the Saudi Pro League side on Monday at a formal unveiling in London.
And the legendary former Reds captain will now be taking analyst Shearwood with him to the Middle East after he accepted an approach from Gerrard earlier this week.
Shearwood, whose work was in the academy ranks at Kirkby, spent almost a decade at Liverpool and had been involved in the club's Under-21 set-up since November 2020, working closely with 21s boss Barry Lewtas.
Gerrard initially told BT Sports during their coverage of the Champions League final between Manchester City and Inter on June 10 that he would not be taking up the offer from the Saudi Pro League club, saying: "I was invited over there to look at a potential offer, which I did, and have been analysing that over the last couple of days.
"As we stand, right now, I won't be taking that offer up."
However, following a resumption of talks last week, Gerrard was revealed to be Al Ettifaq's new boss before Shearwood was taken on board as part of the ex-Rangers and Aston Villa manager's backroom staff.
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It's the second time this week that Liverpool have lost a valued member of the backroom staff after Dominic Price joined Israeli Premier League outfit Maccabi Tel Aviv this week.
Price spent over 10 years with the Reds but was confirmed as Robbie Keane's new technical director in Israel with CEO Ben Mansford, saying: “Dominic will manage all technical aspects of the first team operations including recruitment, performance analysis, sports science data and its interaction with the medical department.
“Dominic will also further embed best practice across Maccabi’s youth academy in the same areas as we look to drive forward with greater analysis and integration of data to support the club’s continued progression."
Those departures follow on from the more high-profile exits of head of research Ian Graham and more pointedly sporting director Julian Ward, who both ended their service at Liverpool at the end of last season.
Will Spearman has since been promoted to Dr Graham's role while Jorg Schmadtke signed a short-term contract to succeed Ward at the beginning of June.
