Ричард Хьюз албан тушаалаасаа чөлөөлөгдсөнтэй холбогдуулан Ливерпүүл шинэ спортын захирал хайх үйл явцыг эхлүүлээд байна.
Ричард Хьюз Саудын Арабын Аль-Хилал руу явахаар болсноо албан ёсоор мэдэгдсэний дараа Ливерпүүлийн удирдлага дараагийн спортын захирлыг томилохоор ажиллаж байна. Тус клубын ерөнхийлөгч Майк Гордон дотоодын болон гадны нэр дэвшигчдийг судалж байгаа бөгөөд одоогоор Жулиан Уорд, Педро Маркес, Дэвид Вудфайн нарыг гол нэр дэвшигчдээр нэрлэж байна.
Жулиан Уорд нь клубын дотоод асуудлыг сайн мэддэг, өмнө нь спортын захирлаар ажиллаж байсан туршлагатай тул хамгийн боломжит хувилбарт тооцогдож байгаа юм. Түүнчлэн Педро Маркес тоглогчдын хөгжил болон олон улсын зах зээл дэх талент илрүүлэлтийн чиглэлээр мэргэшсэн бол Дэвид Вудфайн нь сүүлийн жилүүдэд спортын захирлын туслахаар ажиллаж, клубын үйл ажиллагаанд идэвхтэй оролцсон нэр хүндтэй нэгэн юм.
Ахлах дасгалжуулагч Андони Ираола энэхүү өөрчлөлтийн талаар байр сууриа илэрхийлэхдээ, клуб шинэ чиг хандлагаа тодорхойлох шатандаа явааг дурдаад, Майк Гордон болон бусад шийдвэр гаргагчидтай нягт хамтран ажиллаж байгаагаа мэдэгдлээ. Ливерпүүл клубын хувьд 2022 оноос хойш спортын захирлын албан тушаалд олон удаагийн өөрчлөлт орж байгаа бөгөөд энэ удаагийн сонголт нь клубын урт хугацааны бодлогод нөлөөлөх чухал алхам болох юм.
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Liverpool are searching for their fifth sporting director since 2022.
Last weekend brought official confirmation of Richard Hughes’ departure, with the Scotsman taking head of scouting operations Craig McKee and head of technical scouting Mark Burchill with him to Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal.
It’s a period of sweeping changes for Liverpool. The appointment of head coach Andoni Iraola in June as Arne Slot’s successor was followed by Michael Edwards stepping down as Fenway Sports Group’s CEO of football. Edwards had grown frustrated with FSG’s reluctance to embark on a multi-club model — a commitment which had been key to him returning to the fold in 2024.
There has also been a transition at ownership level, with FSG agreeing to sell a 38 per cent stake in the club to a consortium led by British-Indian businessman Amit Bhatia. Subject to regulatory approval, Bhatia will become Liverpool’s new vice-chairman, and there is the option for the consortium, which includes billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and billionaire Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, to increase their shareholding in the next 12 months.
Since Edwards’ exit in July, FSG president Mike Gordon has resumed oversight for the day-to-day running of the club, and he’s leading the search for Hughes’ replacement. Both internal and external candidates are under consideration.
Edwards served as Liverpool’s sporting director for six years during Jurgen Klopp’s managerial reign before opting to take a break from football in 2022. Liverpool subsequently promoted Edwards’ assistant Julian Ward, but he stepped down after just one season in the job.
Unable to find a suitable long-term replacement, Gordon ended up appointing Jorg Schmadtke on an interim basis in May 2023. Hughes then took over after being headhunted by Edwards in March 2024.
“It wasn’t a surprise when the news came last weekend,” Iraola told reporters when asked about Hughes’ exit at a press conference to preview Wednesday’s Champions League clash with Atletico Madrid at Anfield.
“Richard and Michael (Edwards) were very good in their jobs. They understood very well what they needed to do. I wish Richard all the best in his next adventure.
“Now at the club, we are still working with the people that have been taking decisions this summer. I have continuous connections, especially with Mike Gordon. We talk about the needs and we will keep working.
“It is a matter of the club deciding the next steps where to go, the next direction. A lot of the people involved in the decisions, they are still with us every day. I continue talking to them.”
As Gordon considers his options, there are a number of strong contenders internally.
Julian Ward
FSG technical director Ward has to be viewed as the outstanding candidate if Gordon wants some continuity.
The 45-year-old initially joined Liverpool from Manchester City in 2012 as their European scouting manager for Spain and Portugal. Three years later, he was given the new role of loan pathways and football partnerships manager.
His stock continued to rise with FSG impressed by how Ward used the loans market to enhance the value of players such as Ryan Kent, Rhian Brewster, Marko Grujic and Harry Wilson, who all moved on for significant fees.
From left: Barry Hunter, Julian Ward, Michael Edwards, Richard Hughes and David Woodfine with the Premier League trophy in May 2025 (Nikki Dyer – LFC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Promoted to assistant sporting director in December 2020, Ward worked alongside Edwards on squad planning, contract renewals and managing training groups at all levels.
When Edwards left in 2022, there was a ringing endorsement for the man who had been groomed as his successor. “Julian’s elevation is wholly in keeping with what I believe to be a key factor of the ‘Liverpool Way’, with promotion from within ensuring expertise, experience and institutional knowledge are cherished in the way that they should be,” Edwards wrote in his farewell letter.
As sporting director, Ward signed players such as Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo, and helped end a long contract saga with Mohamed Salah.
Context is important when considering why he only remained in the post for the 2022-23 season. He informed FSG of his desire to quit shortly after Gordon had taken a step back from running Liverpool day-to-day and the owners had effectively put the club up for sale. It was also a period when Klopp had wielded increasing influence over the club’s transfer policy and contract extensions.
Ward ended up staying on beyond his official departure date in the summer of 2023 in order to get the signing of Alexis Mac Allister from Brighton & Hove Albion over the line. He left on good terms andturned down the chance to become Ajax’s sporting director after opting to take a breakfrom football to spend more time with his young family.
In May 2024, Edwards tempted Ward back to the fold by offering him the role of FSG technical director. Since then, he’s been tasked with overseeing player development pathways and has oversight of the academy. His network of contacts has also proved useful in the club’s transfer negotiations.
The initial plan was for Ward to also preside over football operations at another club that would be added to the FSG stable, but despite conducting in-depth analysis with Edwards on more than 25 clubs across Europe, none of their proposals got the green light from the FSG Board. A lot of Ward’s time has been dedicated to the planned £20million redevelopment of the club’s Kirkby academy.
Given that Hughes and Ward both reported directly to Edwards, moving from FSG technical director to Liverpool sporting director would be more of a sidestep than a promotion.
But the sporting director job with Iraola as head coach rather than manager would look very different to the one Ward filled back in 2022-23. The fact that he has a close bond with Gordon also counts in his favour if he wanted to take it on.
Pedro Marques
Marques stepped down as Benfica’s technical director after accepting the role of FSG’s director of football development in May 2024.
Edwards regarded him as an industry-leading expert in player development, career pathways, coaching methodologies and performance analysis. Multilingual and a UEFA A Licence-qualified coach, Marques was viewed as the perfect fit when FSG were looking to expand their football operations, given he had worked in a multi-club operation previously with City Football Group.
At Benfica, he oversaw all youth development and their transition to the first-team environment. Ruben Dias, Joao Felix, Goncalo Ramos, Antonio Silva and Joao Neves were among those to make the move into their senior set-up under his guidance.
Reporting to Ward, Marques has been based at FSG’s office in Altrincham, some 30 miles east of Liverpool, over the past two years. If FSG had given the green light to buying Spanish club Getafe last year, then it’s likely that Marques would have been installed as their sporting director.
Becoming Liverpool sporting director would be a significant step up, but he’s highly respected and has made a valued contribution to the club in terms of global talent identification and establishing player pathways.
David Woodfine
When Woodfine was pictured giving Iraola a tour of Liverpool’s Kirkby training complex on the Spaniard’s arrival in June, it fuelled speculation that he had already been lined up as Hughes’ successor.
In reality, Edwards and Hughes were also present that day, and Woodfine was just showing the new head coach the facilities. However, given his status as Hughes’ right-hand man for the past two years, he has to be in the mix.
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Woodfine initially joined Liverpool in 2014 as scouting and recruitment coordinator and went on to become head of football projects and scouting operations three years later. In 2020, he was promoted again to the role of director of loan management and impressed before deciding to take a break from football in the summer of 2023.
Like Ward, he was brought back into the fold by Edwards as he shaped the post-Klopp era in 2024. Woodfine had worked alongside Edwards at Portsmouth, where he was a performance analyst between 2005 and 2010. During that same period, Hughes was a player at Portsmouth.
As assistant sporting director, Woodfine helped to ease the burden on Hughes, who had overall responsibility for the coaching, recruitment, medical and sports science operations, along with the administrative and facilities management at Kirkby.
