Real Madrid Want To Hire Liverpool Sporting Director Michael Edwards - Report

Per Miguel Delaney and Melissa Reddy of the Independent, Real Madrid have approached Liverpool’s Michael Edwards to convince him to become Sporting Director of the club.

Edwards has been at Liverpool for ten years and was a critical part of building an analytics-focused scouting department that became famous for obtaining undervalued talent like Sadio Mané and Mohamed Salah.

This has apparently impressed Florentino Pérez, especially in light of the financial hardship brought about by COVID-19 and the competition of state-backed clubs.

As written in the report, Madrid wish for Edwards to continue to spot younger, more affordable targets in conjunction with their pursuit of superstars like Kylian Mbappé.

It is worth noting that Liverpool tried multiple times to extend Edwards’ contract but failed. He has decided to move on of his own volition.

Madrid is certainly a different challenge to The Reds. At Liverpool, Edwards was given a great degree of control to construct a department and strategy that built high levels of trust with Jürgen Klopp and his coaching staff, allowing for a seamless link between recruitment and the tactical requirements of the system.

Part of the reason Mané and Salah exploded the way they did is because they came to an environment where their tools could be maximized to the fullest extent. They were perfect for Klopp and Klopp was perfect for them.

Los Blancos have not quite operated like that in the past, signing based on general talent rather than to the needs and preferences of the manager or an overarching philosophy.

Whether Madrid make any institutional changes to accommodate Edwards (should he agree to join) remains to be seen, but this definitely looks like a very positive potential move on the face of it.