Sources: Edwards in talks over Liverpool return

Michael Edwards is in renewed talks with Liverpool‘s American owners, Fenway Sports Group (FSG), over a return to Anfield as the head of the club’s football operations, sources have told ESPN.

Edwards, the man credited with overhauling Liverpool’s recruitment strategy and identifying Jurgen Klopp as manager in 2015, left his role as the club’s sporting director in 2022 to pursue other opportunities.

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But FSG have since struggled to replace the 44-year-old with both Julian Ward and Jorg Schmadtke lasting less than 12 months in the sporting director role after Edwards’ exit.

Sources have told ESPN that FSG want Edwards to head up a new football setup at Anfield, with Bournemouth technical director Richard Hughes lined up to fill the vacant sporting director role at Liverpool at the end of the season.

Edwards has made it clear that he has no desire to return to football in his previous role, preferring instead to take on a more senior executive position if he decides to step back into the game.

Sources have said that Edwards has been offered opportunities by Chelsea and Manchester United since leaving Liverpool but he has rejected those advances in order to wait for the right opportunity.

Liverpool approached Edwards earlier this year but initial talks failed to make progress, but the club have returned with a new offer and sources have said that Edwards is interested in the opportunity but has yet to make a final decision.

With Klopp announcing in January that he will vacate his post as manager at the end of the season, Liverpool face their most important summer since the German arrived at the club in 2015.

With rival clubs Bayern Munich and Barcelona already looking for a new manager and uncertainty surrounding the managerial positions at United, Chelsea and Newcastle, FSG believe that the expertise of Edwards will give them the best chance of making the right appointment to succeed Klopp.