Chief recruiter Edwards turns down chance to return to Liverpool

Plus: Jurgen Klopp does not think fans need to worry about Mohamed Salah, Virgil Van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold contracts

Liverpool’s pursuit of a new sporting director has suffered a blow with their former chief recruiter Michael Edwards snubbing the chance to return to Anfield.
Edwards quit Anfield in 2022 after a successful era as architect of the club’s transfer strategy. Owner Fenway Sports Group approached him in the light of Jürgen Klopp’s announcement he is leaving this summer, with Jörg Schmadtke also leaving his sporting director role. But Edwards indicated he has no interest in the position.
His decision is a setback to Liverpool given how highly they regard Edwards, who was credited with identifying and signing the most successful Kop players of the last ten years.
Liverpool are embarking on a quest for a new sporting director simultaneously with seeking another manager, with former midfielder Xabi Alonso the frontrunner for the post.
Klopp, meanwhile, does not believe his Liverpool exit will not lead to the break-up of his squad, appealing for ‘calm’ around the contract status of senior players.
Club captain Virgil van Dijk raised the alarm about the need for clarity regarding the post-Klopp era given he is among several key men in the final 18 months of his contract.
But Klopp is sure Van Dijk’s situation will be resolved along with that of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Mohamed Salah, suggesting it would have been wrong to open talks on extensions to their deals before they knew he would no longer be the coach.
Asked if he was sure Van Dijk would stay, Klopp said: “Just to shut the story down, I will say yes. It’s just because somebody asked Virgil. Virg is a grown man with a family, four kids. He will decide about his future, nothing to do with me or whatever, he loves this club and is so happy to be here. But when the contract is ending, you start thinking. That’s all.
“All people, I would recommend to stay calm in this department, massively.
“There is enough time to do everything. These players love to be here, don’t forget that. It is not that they have one foot out. They want to know a little bit of perspective but that is there and will happen, especially behind the scenes.
“There is no need to have an impact, it is completely normal. The decision the club knew about my departure for a while and the club could have used the time and tied the players down and then I say, ‘by the way, I’m not here any more’.
“They would say ‘hey, what? No-one told us that’. You cannot work like that, especially not with the relationship we have.
“Don’t worry. It is all fine. The boys love this place: I know that for a fact.”
Concerns about the long-term are inevitable, especially given how close Klopp is to his leadership group at Anfield, but he suggested the club will find a resolution in the coming months.
“Give us a break, give the boys a break,” he said. “Nobody has to worry. This team, the majority of everything is exactly like it is, but if you want to find someone who is not safe now, who has a contract which ends in 2025 you will find it. This club is stable, 100 per cent, and everything will be fine, I am 100 per cent sure.”
Klopp said that many star players have refused contract extension during his reign, suggesting his presence as manager is not a decisive factor.
“Some players left us when I was still here, not happy with the offer or whatever,” he said. “The club has to work on solutions in a few departments, but this has been happening since November already.”
On Wednesday, Liverpool face Moises Caicedo, the Chelsea player who rejected a £115 million Anfield move last summer. Klopp sought to clarify comments he made at a fans event earlier in the season that Liverpool were ‘lucky’ with their 2023 recruitment, insisting it was no slight on Caicedo or Romeo Lavia, who also snubbed Anfield, but a compliment to Wataru Endo.
“I forgot for ten or fifteen minutes that I am a public person,” Klopp explained.
“So I thought, ‘oh no, that will create a lot of headlines’. We were interested in Bellingham, realised it would not happen, and the whole market for no 6s went up.
“Then two No 6s left our club. We thought we could maybe do Caicedo. So we went in, he had an emotional agreement already with Chelsea and Pochettino. Then Lavia had his own reasons. Then we found our top solution. That’s what I meant by ‘we are lucky’. We found Wataru.”