​While the club shattered transfer records, the real conundrum for the transfer guru lay in what they could not acquire, or perhaps chose not to acquire. Liverpool’s summer exits will include Mohamed Salah, Andy Robertson, and, now, Michael Edwards. In his first spell at Anfield, Edwards stood out as perhaps the most celebrated sporting director in the game. In his second, serving as Fenway Sports Group’s CEO of football, he found himself at the helm of a multi-club operation with a single-club focus.
Edwards’ decision to move on, a year before his lucrative contract expired, was made last autumn when he handed in his notice. It predated much of Liverpool’s challenging season and the sacking of Arne Slot, even if not the record-breaking £450m spent on players, or the £125m splash for Alexander Isak last summer. Michael Edwards has left Liverpool for the second time. Yet when he agreed to return, it was reportedly to lead a larger project. FSG explored a range of options—Malaga, Bordeaux, Toulouse, and more than twenty other clubs—yet opted to buy none. The heavy spending—over half a billion on players, including this summer’s additions—came without any acquisition of clubs. FSG would not become Liverpool’s version of the City Football Group or, perhaps thankfully, BlueCo.
This move also raised questions about what Liverpool’s cadre of directors of football actually contributed. Edwards brought Julian Ward back as FSG’s technical director and brought in Pedro Marques as director of football development, while Richard Hughes—an ally from Edwards’ Portsmouth days—took on the role of Liverpool’s sporting director. With no additional clubs to oversee, Edwards concluded there was little point in remaining merely to collect a salary, and he had no desire to return to a sporting director role. The job was not unfolding as he and FSG had envisioned. He perceived it as a natural moment to step away.
Edwards’ first tenure at Liverpool had been enormously successful. Yet while he often kept a low profile at the Kirkby training ground and Hughes served as the immediate point of contact for manager Jurgen Klopp, his departure will deepen the club’s sense of uncertainty. A structure that once allowed Klopp to exert greater influence after Edwards’ exit in 2022 now looks more fragile. The reintroduction of a formal structure gave the club a sense of continuity, but with pillars of that framework disappearing, that stability is in doubt.
A new head coach, Andoni Iraola, will arrive with questions about what kind of environment he is stepping into. The Spaniard has been appointed by Hughes—no stranger to Liverpool, having previously linked with the club after coming from Bournemouth—for a second time. Yet Liverpool, once lauded as one of the best-run clubs in the league, now faces a period of scrutiny over whether the behind-the-scenes apparatus can sustain its previous level of operation.