Liverpool chief executive Peter Moore says that "a modern club" shouldn't have CEOs involved in transfer dealings.
Some clubs, including Manchester United , still operate in such a way and without a sporting director, with the club's executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward frequently coming in for criticism from fans amid United's poor recent transfer record.
Moore, the former chief operating officer at video games giant EA Sports, has no such involvement at Liverpool , instead leaving transfer business to the club's sporting director Michael Edwards.
Speaking to the New York Times , Moore highlighted criticism he received from a fan shortly after he joined the club in 2017, when he was spotted buying coffee at a time when Liverpool were in negotiations to sign Virgil van Dijk from Southampton .
The fan said Moore should be focusing his attentions on acquiring the Dutchman, but he disagreed as he had nothing to do with the deal.
“The modern game of football still has CEOs running football clubs and also doing the transfer business and negotiating with agents,” he said.
“That’s not how I believe a modern club should work.”
Prior to Moore's appointment the Reds did run like that, with predecessor Ian Ayre heavily involved in signing players.
The New York Times piece mentions Ayre flying to Chile in the summer of 2015 to wrap up the signing of Roberto Firmino when he was at the Copa America with Brazil, but Moore says he wouldn't do the same these days.
“My view is there’s 24 hours in a day, and if you’re flying to Santiago for three days — that’s what Ian did, and that’s fine, we were organized differently — then who’s looking after everything else that’s going on?” he said.
“I stay out of the way.
“I don’t know nor do I need to know who we are looking at.
“I need to know whether we’re going to get the next sponsorship deal that we’re looking for.”
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