As most Liverpool supporters celebrated a summer of unprecedented spending at the football club last year, others sounded a worrying word of caution.
Rarely does a team who ‘wins the transfer window’ end up being successful during the season itself, something the Reds have actively learned by remaining quiet in the market and excellent on the pitch.
That changed this term when, armed with a massive budget, sporting director Richard Hughes blew through half a billion pounds in the worst possible way.
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Arne Slot has taken most of the criticism for Liverpool‘s muddled transfer window, and the head coach does deserve plenty of flak for driving a Premier League title-winning team into the ground.
But, ultimately, the big calls at Liverpool are made above Slot’s head. As the man nominally in charge of everything football related, Hughes should be the one to pay with his job.
Richard Hughes shouldn’t get more chances at Liverpool
There had been huge scepticism towards Hughes from the Liverpool fanbase during his first year as sporting director. Only Federico Chiesa was signed in that first 12 months.
Last summer, his reputation with supporters soared as he led improbable deals for Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak as well as adding four more, impressive-looking players to the Liverpool squad.
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But the reality is that only one of those signings – namely Hugo Ekitike – has really hit the ground running, with the others looking very much like square pegs in round holes.
Given the extent of the turnover Liverpool had last summer, it was always likely to be some time before things settled down. The club are midway through a big transitional period and there is surely set to be further alterations at the end of the current season.
Hughes will already be planning for those, but based on his record so far, he should not be given the chance to complete them.
Liverpool cannot afford to make more expensive mistakes in the transfer window and although there have been many calls for Slot to be sacked on the back of a dreadful title defence, it is Hughes who should be the one to go.
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Who could replace Hughes at Liverpool?
Unfortunately, despite a clear feeling that he is out of his depth, it feels unlikely that Hughes will leave Liverpool.
The former Scotland international is great friends with FSG’s CEO of football Michael Edwards, and it has become very clear by now that Edwards likes his mates to be in these roles.
But this is not working, and while Edwards could potentially assume responsibilities himself if Hughes leaves, we would love to see him look outwards to pick up the best in the business.
Right now, there are not many sporting directors doing a better job than Eintracht Frankfurt’s Markus Krosche. Krosche was linked with Liverpool in 2023, more than a year before Hughes joined, and he has a record of real success in the transfer market.
Continuously buying players at low fees, selling them for huge profits and replacing them for peanuts, Krosche can be the man Hughes was supposed to be. The job would be different at Liverpool with a focus on identifying players who can stay at the top for years rather than be sold on. But the German has shown himself to be a stupidly good talent-spotter.
If Liverpool are serious, they would move on from a sporting director who has spectacularly failed in his remit, and bring in someone with a better track record of proven success.
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