After helping to re-establish Liverpool as one of the best outfits in world football, Michael Edwards is set to leave his post as sporting director.
Edwards has already confirmed that the summer window in 2021 will be his last in the post, with Julian Ward set to take up the role in 2022.
His time at Anfield will be remembered for a remarkable hit rate in the transfer window which has seen a number of world class stars come to the club.
The likes of Mohamed Salah, Alisson Becker, Sadio Mane and Andy Robertson have all arrived under his watch, giving Jurgen Klopp the kind of firepower needed to battle on all fronts.
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But for all of the incomings, Edwards’ biggest masterstroke could prove to be the sale of Philippe Coutinho.
The Reds did all they could to keep the Brazilian maestro, but eventually ceded to Barcelona ’s demands. But the Blaugrana had to pay through the nose to land him.
The £142million it took to sign Coutinho smashed their existing record and inadvertently started their decline.
Their financial woes came to a head earlier this year when it was revealed they were unable to keep Lionel Messi, citing ‘financial and structural obstacles’.
And while Liverpool banked a mammoth fee which in turn enabled them to build a title-winning side, Barcelona’s slide to mediocrity continued apace.
The 29-year-old has failed to even get close to living up to his fee, with reports in Spain particularly negative about his time in Catalonia.
Catalan newspaper Sport (via Sport Witness), describe the purchase as akin to ‘throwing money into the toilet of nonsense’ with his situation ‘hopeless’.
Barcelona remain desperate to get him off the wage bill and he has been linked with a Premier League return with Arsenal.
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However, not only did the Reds and Edwards strike gold with the record-breaking fee, the transfer guru also insisted an additional clause was inserted into the deal.
It was a unique addition which meant Barca would be unable to sign Liverpool players in the future, or face paying an almighty £89m premium.
The deal effectively ended Barca’s ability to poach Liverpool’s top talents, as they had done with Javier Mascherano, Luis Suarez and Coutinho himself.
That behind-the-scenes clause expired in 2021, but the two clubs are now operating in unrecognisable spheres to the ones they were in at the start of 2018.
Read more: 5 Liverpool players Edwards could target in Real Madrid role... including Salah
Salah has been linked with a blockbuster move to the Camp Nou, but it is almost impossible to imagine how they would overcome their financial limitations to sign the Egyptian.
Liverpool, under the stewardship of Edwards, have become known as one of the shrewdest operators in the market.
The impact of that single transaction continues to be felt both in Spain and England and will go down as Edwards’ best deal and one of Barcelona’s worst.
