According to The Athletic’s David Ornstein, Michael Edwards has no interest in coming back to Liverpool to reprise his role as a sporting director.
The Liverpool hierarchy has an incredibly difficult task on their hands to find not only the successor for Jurgen Klopp but also build an entirely new team of back-room staff to assist with the daily running of the club.
FSG have been blessed with incredible recruitment, from the coaching staff to the sporting directors, for the most part, they have been entirely faultless in their hiring processes since the appointment of Klopp, however, the German’s departure this summer will be a true test of the owners.
Jurgen Klopp announced last month that he would be cutting his contract short and leaving the red side of Merseyside at the end of the season to focus on his health for at least 12 months, and it was an announcement that rocked the football world, especially Liverpool supporters.
John Henry and his team will be well aware of the vulnerable position they are in when it comes to making the right decision and not undoing the hard work and foundations laid by Klopp.
As a result, it has come as no surprise that Michael Edwards’ name has been thrown back into the mix to make a return to Merseyside this summer to either reprise his role as a sporting director or take control of general operations, as his knowledge and experience would be highly valuable in this new chapter and era Liverpool are about to step into.
This week it has been reported by Fabrizio Romano that the Liverpool hierarchy would be making another offer for Edwards to return after the former sporting director rejected their advances twice before.
Now David Ornstein has given a fresh update on the current situation and Edwards’ standpoint on a return (via LFC Transfer Room on X):
“Michael Edwards has no interest in being a sporting director again. It would need to be something higher, more over-arching and stimulating (which would likely see him appoint a SD).”
“Reports that he wants full control is not my understanding.”
What’s next in the Liverpool rebuild?
There is no doubt that Liverpool will want to get the most important roles wrapped up and appointed as soon as possible to avoid any setbacks in the summer, so there will be little time to let Edwards mull over the opportunity presented to him.
There are many sporting directors across the Premier League and top five European leagues who would likely be interested in progressing further in their careers by taking on the challenge at Liverpool, so it is highly unlikely another rejection from Edwards would see the club’s options exhausted.
Indeed, Edwards experience of the project under Klopp and knowledge of club in general would be massively advantageous with the arrival of a new manager, but there is no evidence to suggest that incoming manager would be happy with the level of involvement he could have in terms of transfers and the first-team squad.
With that being said, it will be interesting to see if Liverpool can convince Edwards to return and whether he will command a role with much more responsibility than previously.
