Former Liverpool transfer guru Michael Edwards is set to rejoin the Reds this summer and will hope to generate funds once again after a number of masterstrokes during his first stint at Anfield.
Michael Edwards is now back at Liverpool and the Reds will be able to tap into his transfer expertise once again.
The 44-year-old was confirmed to be returning to the club as Fenway Sports Group’s CEO of Football. He will assume his position in the summer.
Should his first spell be anything to go by, fans have plenty of reasons to be excited. In 10 years during his previous stint, Edwards was widely praised for his work in the transfer market.
He generated plenty of funds by cashing in on a number of players – to the tune of £270m. Mirror Football takes a look at the stars he bought and then subsequently moved on to allow Liverpool to bank that eye-watering amount:
It’s arguably the deal that built the lore of Edwards more than any other, so it makes sense to start with Philippe Coutinho. He decided to sell the Brazilian at the height of his powers to Barcelona in January 2018.
The midfielder had been an influential player at Anfield since his bargain £8.5m move from Inter Milan. But after rejecting the La Liga giant’s advances in the previous summer, a record bid of £142m for his services was enough to convince Edwards to cash out – banking them a cool £133.5m in the process.
Moving further down the list, the Reds also secured an £8m profit with the departure of French defender Mamadou Sakho. He had been signed for £18m from Paris Saint-Germain, only to leave for Crystal Palace for £26m.
Edwards has also proved very adept when it came to maximising profits for strikers during his time on Merseyside. Taiwo Awoniyi, Rhian Brewster, Danny Ings and Dominic Solanke all arrived at the club for a touch under £12m between them. They would all eventually be sold for around £70m combined.
While forwards were excellent value for Liverpool, they have also banked huge amounts for their academy prospects. Right-back Andre Wisdom was sold to Derby for £4.5m, while Kevin Stewart also secured an £8m fee when he joined Hull.
There were further deals for some of Liverpool’s most promising prospects. Ryan Kent was sold to Rangers for £7.5m, Harry Wilson also saw the club pocket £12m when he moved to Fulham.
The deals kept coming as Kamil Grabara, Herbie Kane, Ovie Ejaria secured Liverpool around £8m between them. Away from the academy, Edwards also banked a pretty penny for a few of his bargain gambles.
Marko Grujic became Liverpool’s first-ever signing under Jurgen Klopp after arriving for £5m from Red Star Belgrade. He never quite made the grade at Anfield but was still eventually sold to Portuguese giants Porto for £10.5m.
Goalkeeper Danny Ward and defender Ki-Jana Hoever were also sold during Edwards’ first stint and secured Liverpool huge profit. Ward was signed from Wrexham for just £100k, while Hoever was recruited from Ajax in a £90k deal.
The pair were then sold on for significant fees, Ward joined Leicester in a £12.5m deal in 2018, while Hoever completed a £13.5m move to Wolves.
