Liverpool confirmed on Wednesday the appointment of Richard Hughes as their new sporting director. He’s got quite the job on his hands at Anfield, arriving at a point of monumental change with Michael Edwards as his FSG overlord.
There’s one pressing issue at the top of his in-tray, and we’ve begun there in five recommendations of things for Hughes to do this summer.
Get Xabi Alonso
Hughes is known to be a big fan of Roberto De Zerbi; he wanted to appoint the Italian as Bournemouth manager following Scott Parker’s departure in 2022, only for a delay in the change of ownership at the club to allow Brighton to steal a march and secure his signature.
That may give the current third favourite a leg up in the running, but at this point – such is the widespread conviction from fans and pundits that Xabi Alonso is the man for Liverpool – anything other than the appointment of the Bayer Leverkusen boss would feel like a failure.
That puts Hughes in a very difficult position, as it’s still not clear whether Alonso wants to leave Leverkusen, or whether he would rather make the risk-averse move to Bayern Munich.
Hughes does know Alonso’s agent, Inaki Ibanez, as he also represents Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola, giving him a clear and presumably amicable line of attack.
It’s claimed Edwards will consult with Hughes over the appointment, but the new CEO ‘will not micromanage the new incumbent’. No pressure.
Once a new manager’s in place there’s also the not-insignificant matter of hiring them a new backroom staff. He really does have a lot on his plate.
READ: New Liverpool director Richard Hughes’ greatest transfer decisions include Mings and Ramsdale sales
Mohamed Salah sale
34 goals and assists this season, at a rate of one every 67 minutes, without seemingly breaking a sweat, Salah has been brilliant. Again. He remains Liverpool’s most influential forward and that would likely still be the case next season, but the Saudi gold – which will be offered again this summer – may well be more useful, if not for immediate gains, then in the long run.
Salah’s out of contract in the summer of 2025, at which point Liverpool would lose him for free. The alternative option would be to extend the Egyptian’s deal beyond his 33rd birthday, which seems unlikely given Edwards’ reticence to offer new deals to older players was one of the reasons he left the club last time around.
With FFP now a genuine concern and Hughes presumably wanting to grant Alonso, or whomever else, a decent transfer kitty in their first transfer window at the helm, Salah’s sale to Saudi Arabia feels like a sensible and simple way to avoid sanctions while allowing a new manager to put their own stamp on the squad.
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New contracts
Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk are the two other players with contracts expiring at the end of next season.
An extension for Alexander-Arnold is a no-brainer, given he’s bloody brilliant and the future Liverpool captain. Current skipper Van Dijk’s return to red-hot form this season has shown how indispensable he remains, but the question for Hughes and Liverpool will be whether they want to offer him a new deal or allow his contract to run down, with his sell-on value likely to be minimal given he’ll be 34 by the time his current deal expires.
The issue may then be whether Van Dijk is willing to stay with no security or value a move elsewhere this summer, at which point he won’t have a shortage of takers. Jarrell Quansah could do with at least another season of his stewardship.
Ibrahima Konate and Caoimhin Kelleher’s contracts are up in 2026, so Hughes may well also need to consider putting new deals on the table for them, with the former presumably earmarked as a Liverpool starter for years to come and the latter proving this season that he may well have what it takes to take over from Alisson when the time comes.
READ MORE: The ten best players of the 2023/24 Premier League season so far
Jamal Musiala
“Musiala is different,” claimed Liverpool expert Neil Jones when asked about the club’s rumoured interest in a number of Bayern Munich players. They’re expected to give Joshua Kimmich a “wide berth” while Serge Gnabry and Leroy Sane, at 29 and 28 respectively, aren’t expected to be high on Hughes’ wishlist.
But Musiala is seen as a generational talent, whom many top clubs will be after, and is a dribbling menace of a midfielder, able to drop deep, link the play, operate between the lines and score goals.
Dominik Szoboslai is perhaps the player most similar to Musiala, but the 21-year-old Germany international is undoubtedly a player Liverpool should be in the running for, given his already enviable talents and extraordinarily high ceiling.
READ MORE: Who will be the next £100m footballer?
New centre-back
If Van Dijk stays, they need one; if he goes, two. Quansah and Konate are the only two other out-and-out centre-backs, with Joel Matip set to leave and Joe Gomez more frequently relied upon as a full-back.
Klopp reportedly wanted a new centre-back in the summer, when all of their money went on a midfield rebuild. And the club will hope their centre-back recruitment will prove to be just as successful.
Leverkusen stars Piero Hincapie, Edmond Tapsoba and Jonathan Tah are all reportedly on their radar, with Alonso potentially offering further pulling power, while Benfica’s Antonio Silva and Sporting’s Ousmane Diomande have also been linked with a move to Anfield.
Hughes reportedly tried to snatch Van Dijk from Southampton in his time at Bournemouth. Similar transfer smarts would be greatly appreciated.
READ MORE: Bayer Leverkusen stars reassigned to Premier League clubs after Xabi Alonso joins Liverpool
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