Michael Edwards is returning to Liverpool as the club’s CEO of Football, and he will be able to help the Reds in the transfer market once again.
Michael Edwards, the man who helped Liverpool make a whopping £270m profit, is back at the club. The 44-year-old will be returning as Fenway Sports Group’s CEO of Football this summer.
If his first stint with the Reds is anything to go by, fans have lots to look forward to. During his previous 10 years at Liverpool, Edwards was praised for his work in the transfer market. He made a lot of money by selling several players, totalling £270m. Let’s take a look at some of the stars he bought and then sold, helping Liverpool make that huge amount of money.
One deal stands out more than any other – the sale of Philippe Coutinho. Edwards agreed to sell the Brazilian player to Barcelona in January 2018, when he was at the top of his game. Coutinho had been a key player at Anfield since his bargain £8.5m move from Inter Milan. But after turning down an offer from the Spanish giants the previous summer, a record bid of £142m was enough to convince Edwards to sell – making a cool £133.5m profit.
Further down the list, Liverpool also made an £8m profit from the sale of French defender Mamadou Sakho. He was bought for £18m from Paris Saint-Germain and later sold to Crystal Palace for £26m.
Edwards has shown great skill in making profits from strikers during his time in Liverpool. Taiwo Awoniyi, Rhian Brewster, Danny Ings and Dominic Solanke were all brought to the club for just under £12m in total. They were later sold for a combined amount of around £70m.
Liverpool also made big money from their academy players. Right-back Andre Wisdom was sold to Derby for £4.5m, while Kevin Stewart fetched an £8m fee when he moved to Hull. More deals were made for some of Liverpool’s top young talents. Ryan Kent was sold to Rangers for £7.5m, and Harry Wilson’s move to Fulham brought in £12m for the club.
The sales continued with Kamil Grabara, Herbie Kane, Ovie Ejaria bringing in around £8m for Liverpool. Edwards also made good money from some of his bargain buys. Marko Grujic was Jurgen Klopp’s first signing for Liverpool, coming from Red Star Belgrade for £5m. He didn’t quite make it at Anfield but was later sold to Portuguese team Porto for £10.5m.
Goalkeeper Danny Ward and defender Ki-Jana Hoever were also sold during Edwards’ time, bringing in big profits for Liverpool. Ward was bought from Wrexham for just £100k, while Hoever came from Ajax in a deal worth £90k. The duo were later sold for hefty fees, with Ward moving to Leicester in a £12.5m deal in 2018, and Hoever making a £13.5m switch to Wolves.
Edwards will be assuming a different role when he returns to work with FSG this summer, but with Liverpool having announced the appointment of Richard Hughes as their new sporting director today, we can be sure that the new man will be leaning on Edwards for plenty of wisdom when it comes to transfer dealings.
