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Liverpool have confirmed the appointment of Richard Hughes as their new sporting director from the end of this season.
The Athletic reported earlier this month that Hughes would be moving to Liverpool after it was announced he would leave his role as Bournemouth manager at the end of the season, being replaced by his assistant and former club captain Simon Francis.
Hughes was chosen by Michael Edwards, who had long wanted to work with Hughes and held him in the highest esteem having seen his career and reputation grow.
The pair have a professional and personal relationship spanning more than 20 years since their time together at Portsmouth when Hughes was a player and Edwards was an analyst.
Edwards was impressed when Bournemouth were able to identify and attract young talent such as Tyrone Mings, Lewis Cook, David Brooks (Liverpool looked at Brooks extensively before his illness), Lloyd Kelly and Phillip Billing to the south coast.
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Edwards, left, takes up a senior role at FSG
“I am incredibly proud to be offered this opportunity,” Hughes said. “Liverpool FC is a unique club and I am grateful to have the opportunity to serve them in this capacity.
“People rightly talk about the rich history this organization can boast, but what really excites me is the present and the future. Jurgen Klopp is leading an exceptional team and squad and, furthermore, the commitment to the young players and his path to the first team is also exceptional.
“I am fully aware of the expectations and responsibilities that come with assuming this position. “It will be my job, working with Michael (Edwards) and leading the existing football operations team, as well as the wider AXA Training Center staff, to make good decisions.”
Edwards added: “I have known him for half my life professionally and personally and he is absolutely someone who embodies the best values of Liverpool FC. I completely trust him.
“He has exceptional judgment and a track record of making intelligent decisions that benefit the organizations he represents.”
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Liverpool are in the middle of a great transition after manager Jurgen Klopp’s decision to step aside this summer, with his closest staff also scheduled to leave and Interim sporting director Jorg Schmadtke has already left.
Edwards, however, has agreed to join Liverpool owner Fenway Sports Group (FSG) as its chief football officer and was seen at Old Trafford on Sunday during the Merseyside club’s 4-3 FA Cup defeat against Manchester United. The former Liverpool executive will oversee the club’s football operations in his new role. FSG is also working on the incorporation of Benfica’s technical director, Pedro Marques.
Hughes’ appointment has always been dependent on FSG securing Edwards and, having notified Bournemouth some time ago, the former Scotland international has held talks with multiple suitors since the January transfer window closed.
Edwards is known for Consider Hughes among the industry’s leading operators. and its movement install Andoni Iraola as Bournemouth coach last June He underlined his credentials.
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Although Hughes has long been touted as a potential candidate, it only became a concrete direction to go once FSG made progress during talks with Edwards.
Since retiring in 2014, Hughes, who played for Bournemouth between 1998 and 2002, was part of the club’s recruitment team and was later promoted to the role of technical director.
The 44-year-old spent time in Italy as a youth player with Atalanta and his knowledge of Italy and his ability to navigate that market aided Bournemouth’s efforts to sign several Serie A players. Hughes is well regarded in recruiting circles at home and abroad, can speak other languages and has been praised for Bournemouth’s recruitment in recent years.
Hughes oversaw a data-driven approach to transfers, seeing Illia Zabarnyi, Dominic Solanke, Nathan Ake and Aaron Ramsdale joining the club in recent years.
His predecessor at Liverpool, Schmadtke, had been signed by the club on an initial short-term contract last June, following the departure of previous sporting director Julian Ward, who had replaced Edwards just a year earlier.
Richard Hughes: a background
Hughes (centre) arrives at Liverpool from Bournemouth (Photo: AFC Bournemouth)
Hughes, 44, spent a decade as Bournemouth manager.
He was appointed to that role in 2014 due to the strength of his relationship with former manager Eddie Howe, whom he met as a teenager after they broke into the club’s first team together.
After they both moved to portsmouth Within a few months of each other in 2002, they met Edwards a year later when he moved to Fratton Park as a performance analyst.
Howe spent much of his two years at Portsmouth injured and this led him to consider where his future might lie once his career was over. Both he and Hughes grew closer to Edwards. Although their paths diverged in the following years, they remained connected due to the nature of his work.
As Liverpool’s sporting director, Edwards later sold Jordon Ibe, Brad Smith and Solanke to Bournemouth, managed by Howe and with Hughes installed as manager, for considerable sums. Harry Wilson He also enjoyed a year on loan at the south coast club.
After Howe left in 2020 following relegation from the Premier League, Hughes remained. Since then he has increasingly operated in the European market. Some of his most recent eye-catching endorsements include Dynamo Kyiv. Zabarnyi and AZ Alkmaar Milos Kerkezplayers who interested some of the main clubs on the continent.
(Top photo: AFC Bournemouth)