Michael Edwards should know exactly what Arne Slot wants at Liverpool in transfer window

Liverpool is experiencing seismic changes on and off the pitch this summer. Yet in certain key ways, it would appear it is simply going back a few years to return to a process that served it superbly.

After a spell with a temporary sporting director, the Reds’ front office will be reinvigorated by the return of Michael Edwards as CEO of Football for FSG. He will have Richard Hughes and Julian Ward working under him, with the former having the all-important role of overseeing transfer activity.

It’s reasonable to assume that the process will work in the same way as it did during Edwards’ previous spell at the club. While the new head coach Arne Slot will have a say in which players are recruited, he won’t be all-powerful and call the shots on that front.

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This won’t come as a culture shock to Slot, who worked as part of a collaborative transfer process at his previous club Feyenoord. Their system was revealed in The Athletic by Christos Akkas, a scout at the club.

“The coach was very specific about what he wants to play and we were able to capture from a data perspective, from a scouting perspective, but also from a mental, physical, technical, tactical perspective, exactly how he wants to play,” he said.

“And then the club set some rules,” Akkas continued. “So we never sign an older or more expensive player than the one who is being replaced. Then we narrow down our search and, within that range, find the most suitable player.”

His description sounds exactly like how Liverpool used to work. Former manager Jürgen Klopp was keen to sign Julian Brandt, but the behind-the-scenes brains at the club convinced him that Mohamed Salah was a better option. We’ll never know how Brandt would have worked out but it would be impossible for him to have performed better than the Egyptian king.

Liverpool was likely attracted to Slot in part as he is happy to work with younger players. The Reds had the third-oldest side in the Premier League in 2022/23 and endured a very disappointing campaign. By contrast, the Liverpool side of this season was eighth-youngest, and links to the likes of Leny Yoro suggest it could get younger still.

That certainly echoes with Akkas' line that "we never sign an older or more expensive player than the one who is being replaced." The stars of the club’s recruitment hierarchy look set to align perfectly.

Liverpool.com says: It's always good to get a little insight into how a manager likes to work and has worked in the past. Based on Akkas' testimony, Slot should slot perfectly into Liverpool's recruitment process.