The March international break has typically offered Jurgen Klopp and his staff the chance to step away from the coalface at Liverpool and plan ahead for the coming months.
With most of his players usually away on duty for their respective nations, Klopp and his trusted confidants have tended to discuss the prospect of freshening up the squad for the coming summer window.
Speaking 12 months ago, Klopp pulled the curtain back slightly on what happens at this time of the year at the AXA Training Centre, saying: “That is the only thing we do in the international break, apart from have a few days off. The player side (was) positive, I would say. But (it was) talks not decisions – but we are busy.”
This time around, however, it’s a very different strategy for the manager and his backroom team as they close in on their final two months at Anfield. Those discussions and talks around potential arrivals for later this year are now the business of others, with Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes tasked with moving the club into an exciting new direction from this summer.
Edwards has been appointed Fenway Sports Group’s ‘CEO of football’, which means he is effectively replacing FSG president Mike Gordon as the day-to-day runner of Liverpool FC with Hughes confirmed last week as the new sporting director too.
Edwards – who set up a consultancy firm with the Reds’ former head of research, Ian Graham, after leaving the club in 2022 – is officially slated to begin his expansive new role on June 1 with Hughes pencilled in to begin on the same date.
With Liverpool set for what is expected to be a lucrative tour of the United States in late July, it’s inconceivable that the search for Klopp’s replacement will only get underway when Edwards and Hughes officially start their positions the previous month.
The Stateside trip may not be as vital from a footballing perspective as the European-based training camp that will come around the same time but the success of the visit to the USA will hinge on the club’s ability to ‘market’ their new manager to an area of the world where the Premier League is continuing to grow.
The Reds’ fanbase in America will turn out in their droves whoever the manager is, but the opportunity to get a close-up look at the new man and his ideas is something that will appeal hugely.
Hughes will leave his role as Bournemouth’s sporting director at the end of the season but it is almost certain that some groundwork will be paved ahead of that Anfield start date, particularly given the size of the task of finding the man who will lead the team forward on the other side of the wildly successful Klopp era.
Like Hughes, Edwards is almost certain to be putting plans in place now for later down the line and given that Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso is expected to be one of the front-runners for the manager’s job, both perhaps need to be more proactive than not during this period.
With Bayern Munich also looking for a new coach once Thomas Tuchel departs at the end of the season, the manager who might just have taken their crown as Bundesliga champions will also be in demand at the Allianz Arena.
“Clubs like Liverpool, Real Madrid, Leverkusen and FC Bayern are working on [appointing a new manager],” said Bayern’s honorary president Uli Hoeness last week. “In the meantime, [Alonso] has proven that he can be a coach for the big time.
