Former Scotland international lands Liverpool sporting director role after collapse of Celtic move

Midfielder who earned five caps for Scotland earns top Anfield job

Former Scotland midfielder Richard Hughes has been appointed the new sporting director at Liverpool.

The 44-year-old, who announced that he will step down as first-team technical director at AFC Bournemouth earlier this month, will officially take up his new Anfield role on June 1.

Michael Edwards, recently installed as Fenway Sports Group’s chief executive of football, has had a long-standing desire to work with Hughes and they have a professional and personal relationship spanning over 20 years having previously worked together during Hughes’ playing career at Portsmouth.

Richard Hughes, who is set to become Liverpool's new sporting director, in action for Scotland against Austria in 2005.

Hughes, who was born in Glasgow and won five caps for Scotland in the mid-noughties, will be responsible for recruiting the next Liverpool manager with Jurgen Klopp set to depart at the end of the season. Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso is said to be favourite for the role but is also wanted by Bayern Munich.

“I am incredibly proud to be offered this opportunity. Liverpool FC is a unique club and I’m grateful to be given a chance to serve it in this capacity,” Hughes told the club’s website.

“People rightly talk about the rich history this organisation can boast, but it is the present and future which really excites me. It will be my job, working with Michael and leading the football operations team already in place, plus the wider staff at the AXA Training Centre, to make good decisions.

“That’s really what the job entails: you have to make the kind of good decisions which enhance the prospects of having a team that wins and excites the supporters. It is what Liverpool have done well for a very long time and the benefits are there for everyone to see.”

Hughes grew up in Italy and was part of the Atalanta youth system but his senior playing career was spent in England with Portsmouth and Bournemouth. He joined the Cherries' recruitment team after hanging up his boots in 2014, before becoming technical director two years later.

He earned his Scotland debut Berti Vogts and was also capped by successor Walter Smith, had been lined up for a similar role at Celtic alongside Eddie Howe prior to the collapse of the proposed deal in 2021. Howe backed out of the Parkhead job after advanced talks which had included a plan to bring in Hughes as director of football.