Richard Hughes appointed as Liverpool sporting director

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 was set to move to Liverpool after it was announced he will leave his position as Bournemouth’s technical director at the end of the season, with his assistant and former club captain Simon Francis replacing him.

Hughes was headhunted by Michael Edwards, who had a longstanding desire to work with Hughes and held him in the highest esteem having watched his career and his reputation grow.

The pair have a professional and personal relationship spanning over 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 talents such as Tyrone Mings, Lewis Cook, David Brooks (Liverpool looked extensively at Brooks before his illness), Lloyd Kelly and Phillip Billing to the south coast.

“I am incredibly proud to be offered this opportunity,” Hughes said. “Liverpool FC is a unique club and I’m grateful to be given a chance to serve it in this capacity.

“People rightly talk about the rich history this organisation can boast, but it is the present and future which really excites me. Jurgen Klopp is leading an outstanding team and squad and alongside that the commitment to young players and their pathway to the first team is also outstanding.

“I am fully aware of the expectations and responsibilities that come with taking this position. It will be my job, working with Michael (Edwards) and leading the football operations team already in place, plus the wider staff at the AXA Training Centre, to make good decisions.”

Edwards added: “I’ve known him for half of my life in a professional and personal capacity and he is absolutely someone who embodies the best values of Liverpool FC. I trust him completely.

“He has outstanding judgement and a track record of making smart decisions which benefit the organisations he represents.”

Liverpool are in the midst of a huge transition following manager Jurgen Klopp’s decision to step aside this summer, with his closest staff also scheduled to leave and interim sporting director Jorg Schmadtke already having departed.

Edwards, though, agreed to join Liverpool owner Fenway Sports Group (FSG) as its CEO of football and was seen at Old Trafford on Sunday for the Merseyside club’s 4-3 FA Cup defeat against Manchester United. The former Liverpool executive will take oversight of the club’s football operations in his new role. FSG is also working on a move for Benfica technical director Pedro Marques.

Hughes’ appointment has always depended on FSG securing Edwards and, having served notice to Bournemouth some time ago, the ex-Scotland international has held discussions with multiple suitors since the January transfer window closed.

Edwards is known to regard Hughes among the industry’s leading operators and his move to install Andoni Iraola as Bournemouth head coach last June underlined his credentials.

Although Hughes has long been touted as a possible candidate, it only became a concrete direction of travel once FSG made progress during talks with Edwards.

Since his retirement 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 ability to navigate that market aided Bournemouth’s efforts to sign several players from Serie A. Hughes is well thought of in recruitment circles domestically 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 join the club in recent years.

His Liverpool predecessor Schmadtke had been hired by the club on an initial short-term contract last June, following the departure of previous sporting director Julian Ward, who himself had only replaced Edwards a year before.

Richard Hughes: A background

Hughes, 44, spent a decade as Bournemouth’s technical director.

He was appointed to that role in 2014 because of the strength of his relationship with former manager, Eddie Howe, who he had known as a teenager after they entered the club’s first team together.

After they both transferred to Portsmouth within a few months of one another 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 to him considering where his future might lie after his career was over. Both he and Hughes became closer to Edwards. Though their paths would diverge over the years that followed, they remained connected because of the nature of their 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 technical director, for considerable sums. Harry Wilson also enjoyed a year on loan at the south coast club.

After Howe departed in 2020 following relegation from the Premier League, Hughes remained. He has since increasingly operated in the European market. Some of his more recent eye-catching recommendations include Dynamo Kyiv’s Zabarnyi and AZ Alkmaar’s Milos Kerkez, players who were interesting some of the continent’s leading clubs.

(Top photo: AFC Bournemouth)