Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes reportedly sanctioned the sale of one Liverpool player in the summer despite Arne Slot wanting to keep him.
In the six months since the end of last season, a number of key figures in the Reds’ Premier League-winning squad of 2024/25 have left for pastures new, with some exits coming as more of a surprise than others.
Luis Diaz was among the most prominent departures, with the forward who scored 17 goals last term being sold to Bayern Munich for £65.5m (The Guardian) and already netting 11 times in 18 appearances for Vincent Kompany’s side.
Hughes overruled Slot on Luis Diaz sale
According to sources speaking to CaughtOffside, Hughes overruled Slot regarding the sale of the Colombian attacker four months ago, with the Dutchman describing it as a ‘sad day’ when the player left.
The Liverpool head coach didn’t want to lose the 28-year-old and had even been pushing for him to be handed a new contract, but the sporting director didn’t see the value in extending the winger’s deal and viewed the transfer offer from Bayern as ‘appealing’.
Hughes/Slot disagreement on Diaz sums up Liverpool disconnect
The complete contrast in views between Hughes and Slot regarding Diaz sums up the disconnect which appears to be rife at Anfield right now.
Of course it’s easy to be wise in hindsight, and in recent years Liverpool have generally been excellent at deciding the right time to sell a player, but it’s hard not to feel that the current Reds team could badly do with someone of the Colombian’s effervescence and scoring return.
Even when the goals weren’t quite flowing from our former no.7, he was never found wanting for effort and sheer will to win, commodities which should be a given for any player who pulls on the red shirt but appear to be lacking within the current group.
Some fans argued that Jurgen Klopp had too much of a say on transfers towards the end of his time at Anfield, and the hiring of the increasingly under-fire Slot as head coach rather than manager was deliberate as it restricted (whilst not completely nullifying) his influence on players coming to or leaving the club.
Hughes might have greater autonomy in that regard as sporting director, but that doesn’t mean he should automatically disregard the Dutchman’s opinions. If the man in the dugout was adamant that he wanted to keep Diaz, his view should’ve been at least considered seriously rather than being stubbornly overruled.
Alas, we can’t turn back the clock, so the powerbrokers at Liverpool will simply need to learn from what’s turning out to be an ill-judged decision and improve their level of collaboration when it comes to matters of such importance.
You can watch Slot’s full post-PSV press conference via Empire of the Kop on YouTube:
Hughes should keep his nose out of selling players and leave it to manager. Whoever he is, he should stop trying to pick the team unless he wants to be manager?
Mate, the Liverpool organization structure is such that there is no manager but a head coach in the name of arne slot. Edwards, Hughes and ward take care of all transfer matters.
Your question mark at the end is superfluous.
You aren’t asking a question.
You’re clearly voicing an opinion that isn’t considering the facts, Mick.
I’d also imagine that the management roles are clearly defined, but they also communicate closely with each other.
Absolutely. What an awful decision to sell Diaz. And Nunez too by the way.
So Richard Hughes is above the manager, did slot have any say on the 450 million signings. All are culpable slot, Edwards, Hughes, and FSG who’ve decided that Richard Hughes should have so much power on transfers. When slot gets sacked, which won’t be long now, Edwards and must follow. It’s the biggest transfer shambles in the Liverpool’s history. If they are not sacked then you must then question the judgment of FSG and henry and werner. The biggest question next will be do you trust FSG and Richard Hughes to pick the next Liverpool manager. I don’t. Diaz shoud never been sold. Kerkez and wirtz should never have been bought, and not buying an experienced quality centre back was a dereliction of duty. Clueless people running our football club.
Mate, fsg trusts the technology and statistics. Similar to modern organizations doing data mining to gather business insights. This is different from other clubs. Arne slot accepted the role of head coach and did not mind the lack of authority on transfers. This could be one the reason why he was picked.
It should be Edwards and Hughes being sacked not Slot! So many new signings to glorify themselves (look who we can get). Letting Diaz go, missing out on Guehi by leaving it too late.
When the summer transfers were made, everyone was in awe of the millions spent. This is the first time we see Liverpool spend like this. To be honest, I was excited about this season until I see the disharmony between the old and new players.
Red, some of these posters live in cloudcuckooland.
The facts over how things have and are transpiring just wash over them with no effect.
They have no idea how a football club/business runs. They just react to what they see on the pitch and spout a conjecture.
Some have intelligence to just repeat over and over, no matter how one explains the reality to them.
So don’t blame Slot for Dias’ exit.
I’m very disappointed by the current Liverpool performance, Anfield has lost its reputation