Michael Edwards and FSG have just seen key Liverpool transfer contact strengthened

When Michael Edwards returned to Liverpool, albeit as Fenway Sports Group’s new CEO of Football, part of the lure was their plans for a multi-club model.

While he has succeeded FSG president Mike Gordon as the day-to-day decision-maker on all football matters at Anfield, in a role that is undoubtedly far more senior than his former sporting director post, Edwards' responsibilities are not limited to the Reds. He has also been tasked with helping to identify and subsequently manage a second club to attract global talent and restructure Liverpool.

Such a search is ongoing, with it clear how such an acquisition could prove beneficial to the Reds in the transfer market in the future. A second club would not only act as a valuable loan destination at a senior level for Liverpool’s own younger players, but a useful platform for its own players to earn potential future moves to Anfield.

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The City Football Group is one obvious example, with Manchester City reportedly set to sign Savio this summer following his sensational season with Girona in La Liga, helping them qualify for the Champions League. Yet while the Spanish outfit are a sister club to Pep Guardiola’s men, the 20-year-old is only currently on loan with them from Troyes - another side from within their 12-club portfolio.

Meanwhile, with FSG boasting a strong relationship with the Red Bull group, they have seen with their own eyes the success of their own multi-club model over the years.

Liverpool have recruited five Red Bull alumni over the past eight years, first snapping up Sadio Mane from Southampton in a £34m deal in the summer of 2016 just two years after he had left Red Bull Salzburg behind.

They would then agree a deal with RB Leipzig for Naby Keita the following summer, with the Guinean going on to join the Reds in a £52.75m switch a further 12 months down the line in 2018. He had initially impressed in Austria with Red Bull Salzburg, prior to moving the Bundesliga outfit in 2016.

Liverpool’s good relations with Red Bull enabled them to find out Takumi Minamino’s bargain £7.25m release clause in his Salzburg contract in December 2019, while they would trigger Ibrahima Konate’s own £36m release clause to land the Frenchman from RB Leipzig in the summer of 2021.

Yet current player Dominik Szoboszlai is perhaps the best example of their model. Prior to the Reds’ activating his £60m release clause last summer, he had started his senior career with FC Liefering - Red Bull Salzburg's reserve club - in the Austrian second division in 2017.

The Hungarian then stepped up into the Salzburg first team in the top flight in the 2018/19 season, before earning a €20m move to RB Leipzig in January 2021.

Of course, such a relationship has not been one-way. Current RB Leipzig goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi would join Red Bull Salzburg in 2013 when his Liverpool contract expired, while Andre Wisdom would spend the 2016/17 season on loan with the Austrians. Meanwhile, Fabio Carvalho joined RB Leipzig on loan last summer, even if the switch did not work out as planned.

And with Reds assistant manager Pep Lijnders now confirmed as the new head coach of Red Bull Salzburg, it would be no surprise to see such relations strengthen even further in the future. To further enhance such links, incoming Liverpool manager Arne Slot has already revealed he knows Klopp’s departing number two ‘quite well’.

Lijnders will be joined by Vitor Matos at Salzburg, with the Portuguese leaving his role as Liverpool’s elite development coach - a position the Dutchman originally held - to become his assistant in Austria. Given the pair’s knowledge of the Reds’ academy as a result, in the absence of FSG’s second club, it could become an ideal destination for any departing loanees.

The 2023/24 campaign has been one to remember for the Liverpool academy, with no less than 18 of their graduates playing for Klopp’s first team this season. While such a list includes Trent Alexander-Arnold, Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott and Caoimhin Kelleher, the rest are all recent graduates who are now considered first-team players, like Jarell Quansah and Conor Bradley, or a litter of academy starlets.

A hefty injury crisis opened the door to the first team for the likes of Jayden Danns, while the Reds’ participation in the Europa League also presented more senior opportunities across the entire campaign. Yet having secured their return to the Champions League for next season, it is inevitable that such game time won’t be on offer to the same degree for Liverpool’s next generation in 2024/25, with loan moves arguably more prudent as a result.

While Salzburg will likely be able to offer Champions League football to any would-be Reds loanees, they are not the only club Liverpool boast a successful working relationship with after agreeing multiple previous deals.

Blackburn Rovers would return for Leighton Clarkson, Tyler Morton and Billy Koumetio in each of the last three seasons, following on from Harvey Elliott’s successful stint with the club in 2020/21, while Bolton Wanderers would land both Owen Beck and Calvin Ramsay off the back of Conor Bradley’s own success at the club.

Ramsay would also move to Preston North End following Sepp van den Berg’s successful 18-month stint with the club.

Meanwhile, Hull City would bring in Carvalho in January after he was recalled from RB Leipzig, with Morton’s own successful loan stint at the club helping the Tigers to win the race of his signature. They have previously signed both Herbie Kane and Harry Wilson on loan.

Elsewhere, this season alone, Aberdeen and Cardiff City would also make use of previous dealings with Liverpool to land Rhys Williams and Nat Phillips on loan. Clarkson had impressed with the Dons last season, while the Bluebirds have previously had Sheyi Ojo, Wilson, and Marko Grujic on a temporary basis during Klopp’s reign.

Across South Wales, Williams would enjoy a loan stint with Swansea City in 2021 off the back of Rhian Brewster’s own success at the Liberty Stadium.

And with former Liverpool Under-21s manager Neil Critchley enjoying his second spell in charge of Blackpool, the Tangerines have loaned in both Williams and Ben Woodburn under his watch.

The likes of AFC Bournemouth, Fulham and Sheffield United have also struck numerous deals with the Reds in the past, though such opportunities were understandably not as frequent when the trio are Premier League outfits.

Meanwhile, Rangers had previously signed a number of players on loan from Liverpool, only for such switches to dry up since Steven Gerrard’s departure as manager. Likewise, while Van den Berg has spent the current campaign on loan with Mainz 05 - Klopp’s former club as player and manager - and followed in the footsteps of Taiwo Awoniyi, but such a link might not be as pertinent once the German exits as manager.

In contrast, local-rivals Tranmere Rovers will always emerge as a credible lower-league loan destination, as James Norris and Paul Glatzel can both vouch for.

Of course, new links could emerge. Incoming sporting director Richard Hughes will surely strengthen relations with Bournemouth, while Portsmouth could emerge as a new loan destination following their promotion to the Championship - courtesy of the former Scotland international, Edwards, and David Woodfine all previously being on the books at Fratton Park.

For the record, Hughes is also known to boast plenty of contacts in both Italy and Spain. Likewise, Pedro Marques’ arrival from Benfica as FSG’s new technical director could open the door further in Portugal, with Julian Ward already boasting well-documented contacts in the country. And there's Slot's incoming links in the Netherlands.

Liverpool might not boast a sister-club yet, but there are already a number of sides they enjoy flourishing relationships with when it comes to loaning out players. Do not be surprised if the same familiar names find themselves negotiating with the Reds once again when the transfer window re-opens this summer.

Such dealings will prove to be even more beneficial when FSG’s multi-club model plans come to fruition and they possess full control over such exchanges.

Were they not a Red Bull club, then Salzburg could have proven to be a perfect target for Liverpool’s owners. Instead, they are an ideal example of what the Reds bosses hope can come next.

And while Salzburg’s place in the Red Bull group is clear, often providing the perfect platform to RB Leipzig, Lijnders’ appointment as head coach could open the door further to Liverpool’s own flourishing relationship with the group and help establish a two-way transfer pathway.