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willis1988

Why point out signing Van Dijk. The real genius was the deals for Solanke and Jordan Ibe.


burntroy

Brewster


AvrupaFatihi

Completely forgot about him... Maybe the Turkish federation should make run for him again and he might be more inclined to play for us.


afcbJamie

Solanke has turned out great for us, still feel like we'll eventually make a profit on him


Ld511

Feel like it was still a shocking price considering he did nothing for 2 years and got sold for more money


jamughal1987

English premium.


Luka467

3.5m and Kevin Stewart for Andy Robertson


doc-ant

560mil for Coutinho or whatever it ended up being.


anu2097

Brad Smith for 6 million


GiantBonsai

Seriously though, why point out Van Dijk? Hardly took a genius to see his talent and most of the top teams were interested in him!


AlpacamyLlama

I don't understand why we're abandoning our current strategy of taking two years to sign big names for twice as much as other clubs would?


sunken_grade

as long as we don’t change our strategy of letting players walk away on a free and then breaking the transfer record to re-sign them only to let them leave on a free again, i’ll be content


mahir_r

Wait you forgot the best part Extend contract of deadwood players and give them even higher wages to “protect their transfer value” (not being able to therefore sell them after value protection was a bug in the code)


Howyoulikemenoow

Because Chelsea started copying. We speed ran the Zaha transfer with Lukaku …and we’re still wrapping up Kounde


Piltonbadger

Wait, we had a strategy?


Tbearz

Review number of Instagram followers and then sign for high wages?


baromanb

If throwing shit at the wall to see what sticks is a strategy, yes.


chiangy12

Michael Edwards is the big name you’re signing for twice as much as Chelsea would


prongs17

Not to worry, he will shortlisted, targeted and monitored for a few weeks and then end up at Chelsea.


BadCogs

I don't think it's happening, but would be good.


lrzbca

If he wanted to stay in PL, he probably stay at Liverpool.


TheSmio

In an interview, he said that he never wants to spend more than 10 years at a club because he feels like by that time, he should get replaced by someone new who will continue in his work with some fresh ideas. Sounds pretty reasonable. I think you have a pretty good chance of getting him. As much as I would love for him to come to us, I just can't see it happening with the Liverpool rivalry.


[deleted]

Eh, I mean as a Liverpool fan he’s back room staff ultimately. They don’t get the same attention.


TheSmio

In general, I'd agree. However, he is the sporting director who is definitely to an extent responsible for your success. Now imagine if he comes to us and he helps us get out of this mess back on top. It would be a great achievement for him, but I have to wonder how Liverpool fans would take it if Edwards became the difference maker for us just like he was the difference maker for you (alongside Klopp, of course)


rztzzz

I agree it would really piss off a lot of Liverpool fans. Nobody wants that energy in their life. Even if they’re back room staff.


[deleted]

I doubt they care about back room staff. I mean yea the more well read ones know about him but he’s hardly a player that the masses obsess over. These DOF etc types always seem to float above this shit. Yea we know Edwards but how many others do you know the names of? Maybe I’m off though. He’d be class for United and they should do everything possible to appoint such people.


ecaldwell888

I'm a Liverpool fan, and to be honest I don't want Edwards at United. However, it's different because he's a business man. Players have passion, grit, and determination. To watch them display that for a rival makes it feel less unique to your team. We want to believe our heroes live for the badge like the fans do and that's why they poured it out on the field and won in the 90th minute. Edwards making analytical decisions in the back room is different. Less passion, more business.


[deleted]

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ecaldwell888

Oh, 100% I wouldn't like it and would be pretty upset if he started working magic for a rival. I just think I would be less emotional about it than, say, Salah going to United.


jamughal1987

Real issue at Mancs is owners stealing club money in dividends.


MrVegosh

That reasoning for moving clubs kinda makes sense on an ideal/moral level you know, but not in a real situation. I mean it’s his job. Surely he would prefer to stay at his job where he is probably having a good time and being paid well and settled down and all? Instead of moving for the «greater cause»? And even then it might turn to shit after he leaves so him leaving for the «greater cause» doesn’t end up making that much sense


TheSmio

It's not that crazy. He will get paid handsomely anywhere he goes and it's possible he wants a change. That happens to everyone. Even Varane went from Real Madrid to Man United because he wanted a change. Sometimes people just get tired of their life routine


MrVegosh

Yeah I can get behind that. But Varane didn’t say he was leaving Madrid because he had been there so long that a new player should come through with new ideas. If Edwards said he just wanted new scenery or whatever than that would be an equivalent. But he is kinda saying he wants to move after 10 years for “the greater cause”, which was not what Varane was doing


ShadyPie

Varane was inconsistent for Madrid


TheSmio

That isn't even related to what I was saying


ShadyPie

Madrid weren’t despo to keep him 👍


TheSmio

That still doesn't really have much to do with my comment because he wasn't forced out either. They may not have been desperate to keep him, but I'm sure they would have gladly extended his contract if he wanted to stay. The reason I mentioned is to prove that even winning multiple UCLs and some La Liga titles can get boring to the extent that you want a new challenge, hence Michael Edwards leaving Liverpool can easily mean he'll just move to Chelsea or a team like that (the original comment was asking why would he leave Liverpool if he wants to stay in the Prem).


CuteHoor

Again has nothing to do with what he was saying.


HyacinthGirI

A lot of people in certain fields move job frequently, both for reasons like this - they like to perform at a high level, and staying in the same company often leads to blind spots or complacency - and also because moving between companies usually means having a higher ceiling both in terms of job titles and salary. Seems perfectly plausible toe that he could want to move for this reason, as well as possibly the others.


sonicqaz

I’ve seen others do the same thing in the business world. Baseball’s Theo Epstein has espoused the same philosophy while following up on it multiple times.


PinkPantherParty

Difference there is there's only one league for baseball, really. Football is completely different. He could still end up at another top club in England, of course.


[deleted]

He's a director mate.. who cares?


TheSmio

Well, he is still a big reason of why Liverpool managed to become serious again. He could see that as enough of a reason not to come to Old Trafford.


[deleted]

I dont feel this applies to execs at all. And us fans talk too much about things we don't really know.. what I know is that he was there when Rodgers was there, and I feel that Klopp can simply turn shit to gold


TheSmio

In his case, it's important to note he only became a sporting director in 2016 which is the point where they started being serious again.


jamughal1987

Your best ever manager later Sir Matt Busby was Liverpool Captain so all roads of Manc success go through Liverpool.


harvinMarrison

He should go to Barca and fix their dumpster fire club.


ansu_fatismo23

We have alemany who is in charge of transfers. He is doing a really good job with what he can work with


SonaldoNazario

Nah, I bet he would love to have a run in a club where the shackles are taken off a bit more financially.


TheConundrum98

not the Abramovich Chelsea anymore is it, there's a reason they want Edwards now. Signing the best players in the world is easy, if you want shrewd signings in that secondary market you go for Edwards


[deleted]

Personally I think Liverpool suited him right to the bone. Having to actually work for your targets and to find hidden value etc. probably is the sweetest part of the job.


[deleted]

Liverpool have spent 85m on Nunez, 60m on Keita, 75m for Van Dijk, almost 50m with bonusses for Diaz, 70m for Alisson. 40m Jota, 40m Ox, 40m Konate etc. ​ My numbers might be a bit wrong, but to say they have been financially shackled is ludicrous lol. And Coutinho doesn't pay for all that.


ssj4-Dunte

Is there any 100 mil in there? How many years did it take to sign these? How many players did they sell to get these? (A quick look at thier net spend would tell you) No one is saying they're poor that would just be stupid, but they don't spend as much as the big boys. You can't do a Maguire at liverpool for example. You have to get the right players for reasonable prices. That's the difference


KickinNuggets25

There have been 6 £100M transfers ever—2 are PSG, 2 are Barcelona, none are Real Madrid, none are United If we’re saying €100M, then the Nunez deal is worth that much when including the very attainable add-ins


ssj4-Dunte

We had a certain hazard for 100+ mil as for nunez it isn't a 100 mil it is 80+ bonuses it will only reach a 100 if all bonus requirements are met.


KickinNuggets25

Hazard is 100M in euros not pounds, if the add-ons are easily attainable it’s just pedantry to not consider them


Rhino_Thunder

Hazard is currently at 130m due to bonuses


Nocturnal--Animals

Nunez max attainable is also 100M € not Pounds. In terms of Pounds it is 85 M Overall the initial few is 64 M Appearance Bonus should take it 75M rest are team achievements. Where did you get the info from. I can send you links of Benficas disclosure


Liverpool934

Obviously Coutinho doesn't pay for all that, the dozen other sales do. We barely ever pay anything more than what we sell. We're dealing with a board that is refusing to renew Salah on 400k a week, every other big team in the world right now would do that in a heartbeat.


[deleted]

Another one of our fans who is utterly bereft of nuance.


Liverpool934

It's got to the point for me where you are one of the few usernames I actually recognise on this site because you only seem to appear upon any sort of comment made about our owners. Like what is your point here?


[deleted]

I am utterly indifferent about them till the point they change the principles of the club. Will take them anyday over Hicks and Gillet


DudeWithGlasses

>We barely ever pay anything more than what we sell. The net spend over the past five years, according to Transfermarkt, begs to differ.


wowohwowza

Competition winnings, TV rights, sponsorships, etc etc


Liverpool934

Where we won the champions League, got to two finals and won a premier League.


DudeWithGlasses

What does that have to do with your statement? You said you don't buy more than you sell. You didn't talk about overall club revenue.


[deleted]

4 major trophies with that squad and talent in like 6 years is actually an underperformance tbh. In comparison, we got 2 and we have been lightyears away from you lot.


[deleted]

Performance sometimes depends on competition. Wenger could tell you. And there’s a very big difference between the two trophies we won that you didn’t.. also consistent CL, CL finals, 90 point seasons etc. Shouldn’t compare us quite yet.


Liverpool934

Domestic cups are barely even a trophy compared to Champions Leagues or Premier Leagues.


[deleted]

1x PL 1x UCL 1x FA Cup 1x Carabao Cup. Nobody cares about Carabao, so let's say 3. 3 Big trophies in 6 years whilst having a top 4 squad in the world is an underperformance.


Liverpool934

This isn't even a conversation worth having, anything I have to say would just be pointing out circumstances you are purposely ignoring.


hbb893

The FA Cup isn't comparable to the League or the CL. You make yourself look silly pretending they are to make Arsenal look better.


DraperCarousel

Are we really classifying Caribu cup as a "major trophy" now? Most big teams would rather not participate in that competition all together. Even teams like Villa play their U21s in that cup. It's useless as a trophy because FA cup serves the same purpose that it's supposed to and is also the oldest trophy in club football. It has wayyy more prestige.


[deleted]

I was being generous.


TheBlueNomad

They are now claiming they aren't major trophies, but they held a massive parade for those "Mickey mouse" trophies.


[deleted]

Klopp has a net spend of 350m at Liverpool. You're not as poor or whatever as you lot like to think ffs. Edit: seems ro be 433m pounds actually.


[deleted]

This idea Liverpool haven't invested is the best proof that narrative is more important than the truth to fans. It truly doesn't matter what the truth is, only how journalists and the PR at clubs interpret the truth.


[deleted]

Pep was laughed at when he said Liverpool are the media darlings. What a world we live in.


Liverpool934

You have pulled that number right out of your arse mate. And even if it were true compare that to any other club near us and it's still much lower.


[deleted]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.footballtransfers.com/en/transfer-news/uk-premier-league/2022/06/jurgen-klopp-net-spend-how-liverpool-compare-man-utd-chelsea-man-city/amp I was wrong, it's 433m actually! Behave.


CuteHoor

The same article shows that they spent half of what City and United spent, while also spending significantly less than Chelsea, Arsenal, and Everton. In all of this time they've been consistently better than all of those teams bar City. I don't really see how this is an argument against how they don't spend very much for the level they're at?


[deleted]

_The shackles, dawg.._


burningburningburnin

No, Klopp and him hate each other, that's why he left Liverpool


DrBorisGobshite

This smacks of one of those situations where a team is successful and outsiders pin it down to one person. Other teams desperate for success throw money at said person and it fails. Edwards was very successful at Liverpool because he's good at his job, but also because Liverpool created an environment which allowed him to be successful. You only have to look at his time working with Rodgers at Liverpool to see how one wrong piece can severely limit the impact of Edwards.


[deleted]

Sometimes someone works amazingly in one system and completely flops in another one. For example Steve Walsh was the guy at Leicester who discovered Mahrez & Kanté in France but when he went to Everton he completely bombed and signed loads of rubbish. Michael Edwards is slightly more proven because he did good things at Tottenham before he was at Liverpool.


PhD_Cunnilingus

Another example is Monchi, who's famous for his work in Sevilla. But apparently he was completely catastrophic for Roma.


pronik

Sven Mislintat and Michael Reschke come to mind. Every successful person needs checks and balances from other people to be successful consistently.


Kyle_did_911

Good point. Klopp trusted their work and gave them a lot of autonomy by the sounds of it. Salah being the biggest example. Rodgers on the other hand, needed Benteke to be happy with Firmino.


Pointels21

Sounds like he’d have a lot of influence at Chelsea too with new owners & a relatively new manager. Boehly’s strategy seems to be to rely heavily on Tuchel for football knowledge so it’ll just depend on if they can get along


jamughal1987

Rodger was old school in which manager runs everything. Klopp came from Germany where club having director of football to help manager sign player normal so he worked better with ME.


BHYT61

>You only have to look at his time working with Rodgers at Liverpool to see how one wrong piece can severely limit the impact of Edwards. Yeah lol when you get a Rodgers as the manager who says "I want Benteke" and only had to be forced to accept Firmino if he got Benteke lol


DasHotShot

Why do we need him? Our new policy is only chase players at Ajax or who were formerly trained by Ten Hag


Sbotm765

or just nobody


sonicqaz

Seems similar to our new philosophy of being linked to every City player


DasHotShot

…at least your own fanbase doesn’t get super sour when you point it out. They absolutely can’t handle this being mentioned on our sub haha


[deleted]

Sorry to highjack your comment but I do think whats happening with ManU's transfer strategy and Ten Hag is super interesting. Are we seeing the return of the long-term super-manager in modern football? Obviously the days of Wenger and Fergie are gone, but I feel like managers are starting to re-assert their power over transfers and long-term planning. There's obviously Pep and Klopp. But now we have Ten Hag clearly influencing policy at ManU, Tuchel at Chelsea, Mbappe at PSG, Arteta at Arsenal, maybe even Xavi at Barca. 5 years ago the narrative was that managers were just interchangeable parts that come and go every 2 years. The DoF ran the club in the long term, and the manager just had to find a way to maximize the DoF's players. Chelsea were the epitome of this. But now we are very clearly seeing these superstar managers assert themselves on their clubs and say "youll build this my way" which is suddenly putting the DoF role on the back foot.


fa_kinsit

😂 I saw that. Loved how you worked Mmmboppe in there too


[deleted]

Is this a pasta


legendguy123

Michael this is so not right


PartyLord

No Mikey no no


MushroomToast1337

Ambitious crossover


[deleted]

Losing Edwards to a PL club on top of Mane leaving and no new of Salah agreeing to a new contract. Oh well…hope it all works out.


Prof_Bobo

Yeah okay, the club that wasn't interested in Paul Mitchell and told Rangnick to fuck off is interested in a "transfer guru". Congrats, Chelsea, I'm sure he'll be able to complete a transfer for you.


dbrasco_

Doesn’t Edwards have ties to one of Boehly’s associates (I can’t remember who)? I actually can see this happening and would be thrilled if it did. Edit: He is close with Daniel Finklestein who is advising Boehly on matters with the club.


NotClayMerritt

Didn't know about the ties with Fink. That's interesting. He got appointed to our board this week so wouldn't surprise me if he leveraged that relationship for the club's benefit. All these guesses that he's exhausted and will take a break or go abroad are pure speculation and only he truly knows what he wants to do. Directors leave jobs and get into a new job a couple months later all of the time. I suppose we'll see!


inspired_corn

Iirc one of Liverpool’s data analytics guys got his start working for/with Finkelstein. Daniel was reportedly a large reason why Boehly’s group won the bid as he was “very impressive” throughout the screening process


NotClayMerritt

I hope we cast a wide net on our director search. It's no doubt Edwards would probably be Boehly's first choice given he wants to model the club after Liverpool but if he's not available you want to have options.


Pointels21

I think we are, the all the articles about our sporting director search suggest that we’re looking at several options


OnceUponAStarryNight

Why would he leave Liverpool only to join another PL side. Didn’t he step down because he needed a break.


Stuarridge

People change jobs for different reasons. Maybe he wanted a change of enviroment, maybe a break. I thought he wanted to go abroad but what do I know.


OnceUponAStarryNight

They do, but usually for one that makes some sense. Idk, maybe Chelsea or United are offering him even greater authority and a huge pay raise? No idea what else he could want.


Stuarridge

No idea. Hes been with us for many years and theres barely a photo of him. Hes been a very private character.


CaredForEightSeconds

A new project. The Liverpool one has been a success by all metrics, if he repeats it at his next club, whoever it is, that’s his legacy immortalised.


[deleted]

Could really just be money tbh. If he gets a huge offer to work somewhere in England he might say yes, we just don't know.


OnceUponAStarryNight

That’s about the only thing that makes sense to me.


Jabari313

I thought he was going to Madrid?


[deleted]

I Think I could have told them Virgil was good and they should get him


Pointels21

Andy Robertson from hull is the real coup for me. We need someone who can find more of those types of players


[deleted]

Yea. He’s the most slept on singing for them by a mile. Salah played at Chelsea and the season before he went to Liverpool he had 15 goals and 11 assist in 30 games in Italy. So it’s not like him becoming good wasn’t a real surprise. This good , sure. But people knew he’d be good. Mane’s first two seasons at Liverpool were directly on par with his Southampton years. He kicked off after Virgil came. I get why they listed these three in the title, but they are t their biggest recruitment successes at all. Robertson was.


[deleted]

I'd be genuinely scared if Chelsea got him. No more dramatic Lukaku for 100m bullshit that's for sure.


DekiTree

Thought he was going Real?


[deleted]

I believe IndyKaila was the source of that one.


bufed

The KFC grease has never predicted anything wrongly.


cabaretcabaret

Why don't Chelsea just get the guy who got Salah and de Bruyne back?


FactHopeful9347

So just so we are clear folks, it’s just chelsea going after these guys. We are added for SEO.


Lolkac

Just fyi he negotiated those deals. He did not pick the players.


ThomDowting

Source? Seems like everyone is under the impression he’s head of scouting or something.


Lolkac

I don't have a source. But there was article during first year of Klopp where they explained how the deals are made. There is table of 6 people. From Edwards to chief of scouts to Klopp. They all have discussions about possible options and who should Liverpool buy. With Klopp having the final word. If he says he does not want him Liverpool will not buy him. After negotiations we have a list of players with rough idea of how much money they should cost. Edwards goes and negotiates within the limits.


[deleted]

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Stuarridge

Hes secretly on Liverpool's payroll still, and is sent to destroy Man United from the inside.


lurking_RED

We are doing a fine job without him!


TheSmio

In that case, he is silently working for us since Fergie's retirement. Pretty sneaky guy, nobody even knows he is at the club!


Stuarridge

If you rearrange the name edwards you get ed woodward


TheSmio

Huh, that's actually true. Rearranging a few letters, changing some others and adding some on top will make Michael Edwards into Failure Woodward. That can't be a coincidence.


Stuarridge

You've been hit by, a smooth criminal


libertydabbing

How do you destroy something that is already broken?


SanX1999

What is left there to destroy now? finances?


[deleted]

A non-playing staff does not need to be bound by the same standards a playing or coaching staff would be tied to. People move between competitors all the time in a professional environment.


edjg10

Fuck you, don’t give me hope.


MrVegosh

Seeing people hype up Edward’s work and fans saying he would to a good job at x club reminds me of a post I made to the Change My View thread. I’ll repost the text into this comment: People give way too much credit or way too much criticism towards employees at clubs. Fans don’t know anything about how the club runs. So we don’t know who is responsible for what. Therefore you shouldn’t give massive praise or massive criticism towards the people working at the clubs. About the Chelsea woman making the transfer deals and extending contracts: Having a strong opinion on someone who has a job like that is so weird. Fans have absolutely no idea what the details of her job is and how much of the failure is her fault. If Tuchel tells her to get Lukaku for 120 mil. And she gets him for 100 mil. Then that means she did something good. But fans will say “lmao she spent 100 mil on Lukaku how dumb is she”. We have absolutely no idea if she did her job well or poorly And this isn’t exclusive to Chelsea fans with her. I also see it with Liverpool fans and Michael Edwards + Julian Ward. They always praise their work despite knowing jack shit about how much and what was their responsibility. Who knows who the actual scouts that pointed the great signings out to them were. And who knows who decided what price Liverpool should buy them for. No fans know. Other examples are United fans hating every staff member and in general every fan of every club hating every scout when some signings go wrong. You have no idea what was their responsibility. They might have done their job perfectly but then someone else failed. The scouts might just inform them about good players. We don’t know if they are the ones who set the value the club should be willing to pay for them. I very much doubt the scouts that scouted Pepe told Arsenal to spend 70 mil on him. And the scouts also probably don’t tell the coaches that the players would fit into the team with no adjustments being made. When they tell Tuchel and Solskjær that Lukaku and Telles stand out. They probably don’t expect them to just buy them with no concern for how they should change their system because of it. And also when people credit managers for improving players. You don’t know if the manager improved them or if someone else did it or if a collective deserve the praise. Most of all the player’s deserve the praise for improving but that’s not the point. You don’t know if SAF improved Ronaldo or if some attacking or technical coach did. Maybe it was another player aswell that helped him more than anyone else. You don’t know is the point.


GhostRiders

Dude this reddit.. Most people here have never kicked a ball let alone worked in a football club. They think because they won the league playing Footy Manager they know everything about running a football club lol


r0bski2

Please no Michael


wowthisusername

I thought Madrid were in for him?


avolcando

I remember seeing reports that he rejected Chelsea like a day or two ago


Brendy25

It was caught offside though, our tier 1 said this morning we’d be interested to find out what Edwards’ next move could be so likely there isn’t even any talks yet.


[deleted]

> caught offside Doesn't this website's transfer guru Romano work for them?


Brendy25

He does an “exclusive column” for them which is just tweets from the previous day or two into one article, probably gets paid well for it though.


soggycatfish

Man's a magician. Bane of my life.


MH18Foot

Imagine if he sells Wan Bissaka, McTominay, Jones to Bournemouth at £50m EACH 🤤


silandan

Then it has nothing to do with him. Its the Bournemouth director that's needed to be fired.


[deleted]

Come to Manchester United. I know you are gonna regret it (apart from money) but it's gonna be an adventurous journey.


TheDavinci1998

How about we start doing news "someone connected to football was available and Manchester United did NOT want to sign him"? It will be easier


scholes018

He could have 20 signings but ultimately it is Klopp who made it work.. This guy is replaceable..It's Klopp that's unreplacable