Liverpool’s future hangs in the balance as Michael Edwards exits with job half done

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Liverpool’s summer departures will include Mohamed Salah, Andy Robertson and, now, Michael Edwards; in his first stint at Anfield, perhaps the most celebrated sporting director in the game. It predated much of Liverpool’s troubled season and the sacking of Arne Slot, if not the record outlay of £450m on players, and £125m on Alexander Isak, last summer.Michael Edwards has left Liverpool for the second time (Getty)But when he was persuaded to return, it was supposedly to head up a bigger project.

Edwards brought Julian Ward back, as FSG’s technical director, and recruited Pedro Marques, as their director of football development, while Richard Hughes, an ally from his Portsmouth days, was his appointment as sporting director of Liverpool.Without any other clubs, Edwards decided there was no point in him staying simply to bank a salary. He thought it was a natural time to step away.Edwards’ first stint at Liverpool was hugely successful (Peter Byrne/PA Wire)And yet while he was not often seen at the club’s Kirkby training ground, and Hughes was the immediate point of contact for Slot, Edwards’ exit will plunge Liverpool further into uncertainty.

The Spaniard has been appointed by ex-Bournemouth man Hughes for a second time but Liverpool, who have looked among the best-run clubs in the league for much of the past decade, now seem to have a void; some would say a mess.Andoni Iraola may be wondering what he has walked into at Liverpool (PA Wire)They have an enduring belief in smart recruitment, player development and long-term planning, and most of that half a billion has been spent on young players but Edwards’ legacy from his second spell is decidedly mixed. Liverpool’s methodology looked inspired when the Dutchman proved a natural fit in his debut season.Arne Slot won a Premier League title in his first season before things went sour (Getty)Yet Slot’s struggles in his second were attributable in part to the Hughes-Edwards axis and their buying.