Outgoing Liverpool backroom member linked with a job at French club | OneFootball

Liverpool sporting director Michael Edwards linked with a job at Nice in Ligue 1

Liverpool sporting director Michael Edwards is being lined up for a job at Nice in Ligue 1, according to French outlet Nice Matin (h/t Liverpool Echo). His departure isn’t a surprise to anyone, with the news being made public last year itself.

‘Build Edwards a statue’ has been a commonly used phrase on social media by LFC fans in recent times whenever the club sealed a good piece of business.

And while it may have had a tinge of sarcasm to it, given you don’t really see backroom members get statues, he goes down as a man who played a big role in helping Jurgen Klopp establish his dynasty at Anfield.

Michael Edwards (L) with Jurgen Klopp. (Getty Images)

During his tenure as a sporting director, the Reds signed players such as Virgil van Dijk, Alisson Becker, and Mohamed Salah while offloading Philippe Coutinho for an astounding £142million. He has now been bought by Aston Villa for €20m from Barcelona.

Julian Ward is the man to replace him from this summer onwards. Edwards, meanwhile, is being linked with a move to Nice to replace Julien Fournier due to the latter’s poor relationship with Christophe Galtier.

A big task ahead

The club’s best league position in recent times was a 3rd-place finish back in the 2016/17 season. They are yet to win the French top division since 1958/59- a stat they clearly want to amend if they have ambitions of hiring an astute backroom member such as Edwards.

Galtier, meanwhile, won the league title with LOSC Lille last season and joined Les Aiglons after the triumph. He could only guide them to a fifth-place finish, level on points with Stade Rennais but finishing below them on goal difference.

Nice in the race to sign Liverpool sporting director Michael Edwards.

It remains to be seen how Ward fills in Edwards’ boots at LFC. The Reds would do well to strengthen their team this summer, especially considering Manchester City signing one of the most in-demand players in the world in Erling Braut Haaland.

The Merseysiders cannot let the gap increase between them and the Cityzens if we want Klopp and our players to end their careers with the number of trophies their quality warrants. We can certainly use some fresh blood in midfield and an able backup down the right-hand side for Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Keeping all our main players on board for the next would also be a very successful move while moving out players like Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who are getting next to no playing time, can help us balance the books in case we bring in new faces.