There was a time in football where boardroom hirings and firings all went on unnoticed behind the scenes. That time has well and truly passed.
Those within a club’s hierarchy are now celebrities in their own right and Liverpool have announced their latest high-profile signing, with Michael Edwards returning to Anfield after several years away.
The Reds’ former sporting director is being met with great fanfare after agreeing a fresh contract with the Merseyside club and will undertake a new role under Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG).
But just who is Michael Edwards and why were Liverpool so desperate to get him back?
The Southampton-born football chief began his journey in the game with an analyst position at Portsmouth in 2003, spending six years with Pompey under Harry Redknapp. Unbelievably, Edwards was only an IT teacher in Peterborough prior to his appointment on the south coast, with the 44-year-old enjoying a meteoric rise.
Edwards made the move to Tottenham Hotspur to become a chief analyst in north London in 2009, staying with the club for two years before Liverpool snapped him up.
He also started as an analyst at Anfield but quickly rose through the ranks, becoming the club’s head of methodology in 2013 and then technical director in 2015. After just over a year in the latter role, Liverpool promoted him to the position of sporting director, where Edwards flourished.
He spent just under six years as Liverpool’s sporting director, helping oversee the club’s most successful period in recent history under Jurgen Klopp. He was vital in the recruitment of the Reds’ Premier League and Champions League-winning sides, but he eventually left his role in 2022 in search of a bigger challenge.
Edwards was then involved in setting up a sports advisory company Ludonautics, rejecting offers from the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United as he waited for the perfect opportunity to return to football.
That opportunity has now arisen as he commits to working with Liverpool’s owners FSG once again, resigning from Ludonautics and taking on a much grander role second time round with the Reds.
Edwards will become the new CEO of football for FSG, which effectively means running football operations at Liverpool given that’s the only club the American company currently own.
Edwards is set to appoint Richard Hughes as the club’s sporting director – a former Portsmouth player who has been working with Bournemouth as a technical director for almost a decade.
Edwards’…
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