The Liverpool Echo have excellently outlined the roles of our six-man transfer committee.
Already this summer, the infamous (and oft criticised) committee have signed six seniors (James Milner, Danny Ings, Roberto Firmino, Adam Bogdan, Nathaniel Clyne and Joe Gomez) and two academy prospects (Bobby Adekanye and Brooks Lennon).
No other elite club in the country has done as much business.
But who makes what decisions, and who has the final say?
Here’s what the Echo has to say, along with our own thoughts:
Mike Gordon
Gordon is the second biggest stakeholder in FSG, and of the owners, is the American businessman who knows by far the most about football.
More so than John Henry and Tom Werner, for example.
The 50-year-old has far more day-t0-day interaction with the team management, too – although he doesn’t give interviews – so is not very well known to the fan base.
Brendan Rodgers
Despite the team around him, Rodgers has the first and final say on player recruitment. So he therefore must take primary responsibility for all players coming in – the good and the bad.
The Echo does report though that there are situations when we stop chasing targets Rodgers likes because the rest of the committee don’t share his opinion on the player’s ability. Similarly, when Rodgers’ targets are unavailable – he has to choose between players he doesn’t fancy – like his deciding on Mario Balotelli over Samuel Eto’o last summer.
It would be mightily interesting to see exactly which of our multiple transfers since he took over where actually ‘Rodgers’ signings’.
Did he actively pursue Iago Aspas and Rickie Lambert? Was he the reason we targeted Daniel Sturridge and Coutinho…?
Ian Ayre
The man who gets the most criticism from Liverpool supporters, mainly due to his role in the Being Liverpool documentary that was released when Rodgers took over as manager.
But his occasionally cringeworthy public persona hides superb business acumen and outstanding commercial knowledge, for us.
Ayre is the man who primarily negotiates transfers. He tries to get the best fees for incoming and outgoing signings, and flies over the world to speak with clubs and player representatives.
Ayre is the CEO, having previously been promoted to MD from a role as commercial director under Hicks and Gillett.
He should be congratulated for sealing so many early deals last and this summer – although the prices (i.e Lovren, Markovic) have sometimes been poor value.
Michael Edwards
Edwards is the data analyst – and arguably the man who has defined our ‘money ball’ approach to transfers the most in recent seasons. He is a football statistics expert and analyses attributes, characteristics and numbers from leagues all over the world.
Edwards arrived at Liverpool when Damien Comolli was our director of football – after the Frenchman was impressed with his work as Portsmouth’s head of performance analysis.
Dave Fallows
Fallows is our head of recruitment, and according to the Echo, has a worldwide network of scouts directly reporting to him. It’s these players which he then introduces to the rest of the transfer committee for analysis.
Importantly – Fallows works closely with Rodgers in creating a suitable shortlist of players for a necessary position.
So when we signed Nathaniel Clyne this summer, you can be sure he was one of the names on a list of right-backs originally collated by Fallows and his team.
The committee then analyse the list and Ayre and Gordon decide who is financially viable.
Barry Hunter
Hunter, a former assistant at Swindon Town, is our chief scout. He watches individual transfer targets thoroughly and consistently, and draws up in-depth reports of the players outlined by Fallows and the rest of the scouts.
Hunter spends the most time focussing on an individual target, highlighting strengths, weaknesses, personality and analysing how the player would suit Liverpool.
He doesn’t get involved in any financial matters and doesn’t negotiate fees or contract details with clubs or players.
