If this report is accurate, I have one very simple question: how has Richard Hughes been allowed to do this?
According to Romain Molina, Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes is officially leaving the club to become Al-Hilal’s new sporting director.
But the most remarkable part of the report isn’t even that Hughes is leaving Liverpool.
It’s the claim that he has already been overseeing Al-Hilal’s transfer business while simultaneously working for Liverpool.
And honestly, I find that quite astonishing.
Liverpool should have been his only priority
Richard Hughes was appointed to one of the biggest jobs in English football.
Liverpool sporting director isn’t a position where you should be dividing your attention between two clubs.
Liverpool should have been his priority.
Liverpool’s recruitment should have been his priority.
Liverpool’s negotiations, targets, contracts and squad planning should have been his priority.
Instead, if Molina’s report is accurate, Hughes has somehow been juggling the transfer business of Liverpool and Al-Hilal at the same time.
How does that happen?
We’re talking about hundreds of millions of pounds
This isn’t a minor role.
Liverpool have spent huge amounts of money this summer.
Alexander Isak arrived for £125m.
Bradley Barcola followed in a deal worth around £123m with add-ons.
Florian Wirtz was another enormous investment.
There have also been numerous other incomings and outgoings.
These are decisions involving hundreds of millions of pounds.
So the idea that the person overseeing Liverpool’s sporting recruitment could also be working on another club’s transfer business is difficult to understand.
Surely Liverpool needed his full attention?
Who allowed it?
That’s the question I’d like answered.
Was this something Liverpool’s hierarchy knew about?
Was it formally approved?
Was Hughes doing this outside of his Liverpool responsibilities?
And if so, how could anyone think it was acceptable for Liverpool’s sporting director to be dividing his time between two clubs?
This isn’t about having a second job stacking shelves somewhere.
This is another football club.
A club with its own recruitment strategy, its own targets and its own transfer negotiations.
Liverpool are too big for this
Liverpool shouldn’t need to remind anybody how important the sporting director’s role is.
The club are competing for the biggest trophies in football.
The transfer department is making decisions that can shape Liverpool’s squad for years.
That’s why I find the situation so difficult to comprehend.
Imagine being a Liverpool supporter and finding out that while the club are desperately trying to strengthen Iraola’s squad, the sporting director is also apparently working on another club’s recruitment.
I’d want to know why.
Especially with Iraola starting a new era
The timing makes it even more difficult to understand.
Liverpool have a new manager.
Andoni Iraola has walked into a squad that has changed dramatically.
Players have left.
Players have arrived.
There are still areas of the squad that supporters believe need strengthening.
The manager needs the recruitment department completely focused on giving him the tools required to compete.
This isn’t the time for divided attention.
This isn’t about Hughes leaving
And to be clear, I don’t have a problem with Richard Hughes deciding that he wants a new challenge.
Football executives leave clubs all the time.
If he wants to go to Al-Hilal, that’s his decision.
My issue is with the suggestion that he was already working for them while still Liverpool’s sporting director.
Those are two completely different things.
Leaving Liverpool is one thing.
Doing another club’s transfer business while employed by Liverpool is something else entirely.
What makes this even more bizarre
Liverpool have had an incredibly busy transfer window.
We’ve watched the club pursue numerous players.
There have been negotiations with PSG, Brighton, Crystal Palace and plenty of other clubs.
We’ve seen Liverpool change targets and move from one player to another.
And apparently, during all of this, Hughes was also involved in Al-Hilal’s recruitment.
If that’s correct, it’s fair for supporters to ask whether Liverpool were getting 100% of his attention.
Because that’s what the club should expect from someone in such an important position.
My verdict
I’m not going to pretend I know exactly what has happened behind the scenes.
We need more information and, ideally, confirmation from Liverpool or Hughes himself.
But if Romain Molina’s report is accurate, I think Liverpool supporters are perfectly entitled to be unhappy about this.
Richard Hughes was employed by Liverpool.
Liverpool were paying him to oversee Liverpool’s sporting operation.
He should have been concentrating on Liverpool.
One club. One job. One priority.
If he wanted to work for Al-Hilal, fine.
Leave Liverpool and then do it.
But the idea of simultaneously overseeing transfer business for both clubs is something I simply don’t understand.
Liverpool are one of the biggest football clubs in the world.
They deserve a sporting director whose entire focus is on Liverpool Football Club.
And if Hughes really has been juggling both jobs, the biggest question isn’t why he’s leaving.
It’s why Liverpool allowed him to do it in the first place.
Jamie (The Kopite View)
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