Liverpool owners FSG confirm Michael Edwards' return to set up

Posted Wednesday, March 13, 2024 by ESPN

Liverpool's American owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG) have confirmed Michael Edwards has been appointed as the organisation's CEO of football, with his initial challenge to recruit new leadership for the Premier League club's football operations.

Edwards was previously Liverpool's sporting director and was credited with overhauling the club's recruitment strategy and identifying Jürgen Klopp for the manager's role in 2015.

He left the club in 2022, but will now return as part of the FSG wider setup, where he will be tasked with rebuilding the football operations team after Klopp leaves Liverpool at the end of the season.

FSG struggled to replace Edwards after he left, with both Julian Ward and Jorg Schmadtke lasting less than 12 months in the sporting director role after the 44-year-old's departure.

But Edwards will now return and oversee a new era at Liverpool and hinted that FSG could make a move to take over another football club.

Liverpool owners FSG confirm Michael Edwards' return to set up
Michael Edwards (L) at Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool contract extension in 2019. John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images

"It was vital for me that, if I did return, it had to be with renewed vigour and energy," Edwards said in a statement.

"In practice, this means having fresh challenges and opportunities. As such, one of the biggest factors in my decision is the commitment to acquire and oversee an additional club, growing this area of their organisation.

"I believe that to remain competitive, investment and expansion of the current football portfolio is necessary."

Sources have told ESPN that Bournemouth technical director Richard Hughes has been lined up to fill the vacant sporting director role at Liverpool at the end of the season.

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