Fabrizio Romano: Liverpool to give 'last try' to convince key target of role at club

Liverpool 'want to give one last try' to convince former sporting director Michael Edwards of a return, as they plan the club's structure post Jurgen Klopp.

Edwards left Liverpool in 2022 after 11 years at Anfield in a variety of roles.

Having previously spent time at Portsmouth and Tottenham, he joined Liverpool as a chief analyst, later rising to become the club's sporting director in 2016 — a position he held until his departure.

A highly respected and popular figure, Edwards was credited with having played a big role in many of the most successful transfer of the Klopp era, including the deals to bring in Mohamed Salah, Alisson Becker and Virgil van Dijk.

With the Reds also requiring a new sporting director following the exit of Jorg Schmadtke there has been speculation over whether Edwards could yet be convinced back to Anfield.

In January, it was reported that Liverpool had approached Edwards about a return to the club to take on a more senior role overseeing the transition after Klopp's exit this summer. However, the 44-year-old, who nows runs sports advisory company Ludonautics, is said to have turned down the offer.

Now, Fabrizio Romano reports that despite that rebuff, Liverpool's FSG owners want to "give one last try" to re-sign Edwards in a position above the yet-to-be-appointed sporting director.

The transfer reporter posted on X (Twitter): "Liverpool owners want to give one last try to bring Michael Edwards back to the club.

"FSG want Edwards to take over football and put new structure in place, including new sporting director.

"Edwards has currently shown NO sign of saying yes — but #LFC will try again."

Romano followed up the post with another, adding: "FSG want new structure to be decided as soon as possible, it won’t take long. Final attempt for Michael Edwards with an answer soon… or they will move on in March. This is crucial as #LFC want new structure before appointing new manager."

Liverpool are widely expected to appoint a new sporting director and implement any new structure behind the scenes, before announcing Klopp's successor.

Xabi Alonso (Bayer Leverkusen) remains the frontrunner to take over the role of head coach, while the likes of Tim Steidten (West Ham), Richard Hughes (Portsmouth) and Simon Rolfes (Bayer Leverkusen) have all been touted as possible candidates to take over Edwards' old role as sporting director.