Richard Hughes has failed to win Liverpool supporters over since joining as the club’s sporting director in 2024.
The Scotsman has spent big with the Reds, going above £100m on a player not once, but twice, for the first time in Liverpool history, but neither Florian Wirtz nor Alexander Isak have looked like smart signings.
With other big-name arrivals also failing to deliver, the sporting director has faced plenty of scrutiny.
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There have been rumours that Hughes could leave Liverpool this summer, and with 2026 likely to be his final window with the Reds, he badly needs to make it a good one. He can perhaps never do enough to change the perception of he and his work on Merseyside, but he can at least leave Liverpool with some parting gifts.
However, as whisperings persist that Hughes is set to join Al Hilal, Belgian journalist Sacha Tavolieri has claimed that the former midfielder will simultaneously work for both the Saudi side and Liverpool, in a move which is certain to rub fans up the wrong way.
Hughes will work two jobs this summer
Whether or not Hughes does move on to Al Hilal this year, he will definitely lead Liverpool’s summer recruitment, which is expected to a busy job once again.
The former Scotland international has a few wrongs to put right with his squad planning, and Reds fans should reasonably expect that he will be putting full focus on making sure Andoni Iraola has the best chance possible of hitting the ground running at Anfield.
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However, Tavolieri has claimed that that actually will not be the case, with Hughes reportedly set to split his time between Liverpool and Al Hilal.
“More on Richard Hughes to Al Hilal news,” he posted on X. “Simon Charles Francis started his work with the Saudi club, Al Hilal, within the technical management with the sports director Richard Hughes.
“Simon’s expected to be Richard Hughes’s right hand as the Englishman will join him at Al Hilal Club after the transfer period with Liverpool ends.
“For the record, Richard Hughes is the one who runs the Al Hilal Summer Club market and the Liverpool Club market.”
Liverpool fans can’t wait to see the back of Hughes
It says much about the state of modern football that the sporting director’s are now virtually as big a star’s as the managers they hire and fire.
At Liverpool, that is, unfortunately, more the case than at many other teams, with Hughes and Michael Edwards running the show with a head coach, rather than a manager, picking the team.
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While that structure may stay in place once Hughes completes his tenure – and Edwards likely leaves in 2027 – it is clear that Liverpool need a better guarantee of success at sporting director level.
Hiring Hughes was always a gamble, and it largely has not worked. Some signings have shown promise, but there has been no clear plan, while those above him arguably waited far too long to remove Arne Slot from his position as well.
When Hughes does eventually go, there will be no sadness at all from Liverpool supporters, and if he really is working two jobs at the same time, then they will likely – and fairly – take glee in his departure.
This summer is far too important to the Reds for their senior decision-makers to be actively planning for their next jobs.
If Hughes is anything other than perfect in his recruitment at Anfield, he is going to have to deal with some very angry Liverpool fans for the rest of his time at the club and beyond.
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