Could Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk follow him after Jurgen Klopp leaves? Photo: PA/Peter Bruhn
Come the summer, when Jurgen Klopp says goodbye to the Kop for the last time, the three most important players who will be waiting in his guard of honor will – under current circumstances – have only one season left on their contract.
Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold define the names in the Klopp era. They are all at different stages of their careers and at different ages, but they all require the most careful consideration when it comes to the next step – a contract extension, departure or 12-month free agent status. Van Dijk will turn 32 this summer, while Salah is just 11 months his junior. If not now, then soon Liverpool will be faced with the daunting prospect of replacing these giant figures in the club's history.
Alexander-Arnold demonstrates a different dynamic. There is a natural assumption that the hometown hero will always remain, as his predecessors did, although this, too, is a dangerous game. He turns 26 in October and could become one of the best players in the world after this summer's European Championships. Certainly his form points to that path, despite his current injury. He is the archetype of a hybrid defender and midfielder. Liverpool have only one option: extend the contract or sell.
Neither Klopp nor his experienced backroom staff will be around to make those decisions. Also leaving will be Jörg Schmadtke, a regular, if unusual, candidate for the position of short-term sporting director. Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group are due to appoint a sporting director and manager in the next six months and use this new structure to determine the fate of three of their biggest players.
No one has said anything about ownership. it was easy.
Salah only has one year left on his contract until the end of this season. Photo: Getty Images/John Powell
FSG has operated skillfully since its arrival in October 2010, which is not to say there have been no mistakes. However, current performance puts FSG comfortably ahead of many other US investors in the Premier League. Mike Gordon, President of FSG, has demonstrated a very astute transfer of skills from his investment career to English football.
Like Klopp, FSG has selected or approved the appointment and promotion of key recruiters. like Michael Edwards and Ian Graham. Both are now gone but continue to have a major impact on the game through their data analytics consultancy Ludonautics, which works on behalf of a number of clubs.
Even with the departure of the pair, as well as Edwards' successor as sporting director Julian Ward, the club continues to recruit players strongly. There is no doubt that Klopp's influence now permeates much of the club's footballing activities, although that era is also coming to an end.
On the other hand, it is notable that in last year's Deloitte audit of the earnings of Europe's leading clubs, Liverpool moved above Manchester United for the first time on their way to the 2022 Champions League final, breaking the euro mark. The 700 million barrier is the first time. Failure to secure a Champions League place last season saw them drop back to the €683 million mark, but even so they are still on par with fossil fuel powered clubs and Spanish giants with chronic debts.
Now FSH will have to do it all again. The football world is full of sporting directors who believe they can manage Liverpool and would love to do so. The question, as always, is who. Edwards' rise came at Liverpool and he went on to develop a recruitment model that would point the club towards some of their best players. This market is not easy to tap into, but the right person can transform a team and, by extension, a club.
When Ward left in November 2022, Liverpool officials met informally with Paul Mitchell (most recently of Monaco, but also of Southampton, Tottenham and the Red Bull group) and Marcus Crochet, now sporting director Eintracht Frankfurt. They eventually settled on Schmadtke, a Klopp ally, in the short term. But the reality is that the position was never properly filled.
Fenway Sports Group made a great choice in hiring Klopp – maybe this time they will repeat the trick? Photo: Getty Images/John Powell
New options are available, including Thiago Pinto, the former Benfica sporting director who most recently worked at Roma. Liverpool may well consider the approach of Aston Villa, where the manager and president of football operations have previously worked together. In this case, it is Unai Emery and Ramon Rodriguez Verdejo – aka Monchi. Sporting Lisbon has another interesting partnership: Hugo Viana as sporting director and Ruben Amorim as coach. Xabi Alonso works together with former German national team player and now sporting managing director of Bayer Leverkusen Simon Rolfes.
US investment firm Redbird owns 11 per cent of FSG and has moved into football ownership on its own along with AC Milan and Toulouse, the latter of which is managed by Damien Comolli. Redbird, which is leading the Abu Dhabi-funded takeover bid for Telegraph Media Group, may also have a say in these key appointments. However, Comolli did experience an unfortunate exit from Liverpool and FSG in 2012.
The mystery begins with the sporting director and ends with the coach, as well as the issue of player exchanges and contract extensions. Manchester United are also in the market, with their new chief executive Omar Berrada expected to appoint a sporting director this year. United must rebuild from a position of far less confidence than Liverpool, who already have the makings of a great team. But this means that the market for these key employees is more saturated and the profits are much higher.
Despite this, FSG has been in this game for over 13 years. When he first took over the club, John Henry, the majority owner, noted that he and current chairman Tom Werner visited Ivan Gazidis at Arsenal last month and met Arsene Wenger in the process. “We’re big fans of their organization,” Henry said at the time. Over the years, there has been no doubt which of the two clubs has done better, and it is not Arsenal – despite the fact that they are now rivals again.
The problems after Klopp's departure are enormous. FSG, although this is not their first rodeo. At least this property brought success and scars to believe she could do it again.
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