Newcastle United to beat their Premier League rivals to important signing

Liverpool may face competition from Newcastle United to hire Richard Hughes as their new sporting director.
The Reds are currently without a sports director after Jorg Schmadtke’s short tenure ended following the January transfer window.

Liverpool are expected to find a replacement before the end of the month before turning their attention to finding a new manager, with current manager Jurgen Klopp leaving at the end of the season.

According to a recent source, Liverpool is still considering re-appointing former sporting director Michael Edwards, who departed the club in 2022.

The Merseysiders are also said to be interested in Bournemouth manager Hughes, who is set to leave the Vitality Stadium this summer.

Hughes has been the Cherries’ technical director for nearly ten years, and the club is presently in its seventh consecutive season in the Premier League, having reached four quarter-finals in the EFL Cup and FA Cup during his tenure.

 

 

The 44-year-old was also instrumental in negotiating the sales of great players like as Nathan Ake, Aaron Ramsdale, Tyrone Mings, and Callum Wilson, which resulted in considerable profits for the club.

According to The Independent, Hughes has been listed as one of several candidates for Liverpool’s sporting director position, including former AC Milan boss Frederic Massara and current Nice director Florent Ghisolfi.

However, the source says that Newcastle is Hughes’ most likely destination given his long-standing relationship with manager Eddie Howe, who spent 11 years in charge of Bournemouth across two spells before joining the Magpies in 2021.

Newcastle, like Liverpool, is now without a sporting director following Dan Ashworth’s gardening leave last month.

Ashworth joined Newcastle in February 2022, but has since left the club due to alleged interest from Manchester United’s new minority stakeholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

It is estimated that the Red Devils will have to pay a compensation cost of roughly £20 million if they want to hire Ashworth before his Newcastle contract expires in 2026.