Fabrizio Romano has outlined what the ‘first two crucial steps’ at Liverpool will be for Michael Edwards if he returns to Anfield.
The Reds’ former sporting director is reportedly on the brink of coming back to the club to oversee senior operations, and there could be two massive tasks awaiting him in the in-tray if he were to take a boardroom role in L4.
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In his column for 888sport, Romano wrote: “The first two crucial steps are clear: Edwards together with the owners will work on the new manager to replace [Jurgen] Klopp, difficult mission but Liverpool will be on it as they’re still in a ‘fight’ with FC Bayern to get Xabi Alonso, both clubs are pushing with different factors.
“Then for Liverpool it’s gonna be crucial to present their new project to top players like [Virgil] van Dijk, [Mo] Salah and [Trent] Alexander-Arnold to understand how to proceed in contract talks as soon as possible.”
Ideally Edwards’ return to Liverpool will be finalised as soon as possible so that he and the club can get straight to work on appointing a sporting director to fill the void left by Jorg Schmadtke, and finding a new manager to take over from the exit-bound Klopp once the season ends.
Once those crucial positions are filled, the 44-year-old’s attention could then turn towards securing the futures of the three players mentioned by Romano, with Van Dijk and Salah now into the final 18 months of their respective Anfield contracts.
If the Reds’ former director can resolve all of those tasks within the first six months of his tenure, it’d bode very well for the club’s long-term future.
Of course, we’re still waiting on Edwards’ return to be confirmed officially, but the indications from the ever-reliable Romano suggest that it could happen imminently, duly getting the cornerstone in place for the other building blocks to follow.