Richard Hughes, the Liverpool sporting director who appointed Arne Slot and then oversaw his sacking, is expected to leave the club next summer to join Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal. Hughes' current contract expires next June, and he is likely to link up with former Bournemouth colleague Simon Francis at Al Hilal, who are already operating on the basis that Hughes will join. Francis replaced Hughes as Bournemouth's technical director when Hughes was hired by Liverpool owner Fenway Sports Group in 2024, and is now leading Al Hilal's transfer activity.
For now, Hughes and Liverpool are focused solely on the current transfer window and the forthcoming season – the first for new head coach Andoni Iraola, who replaced Slot after a disappointing campaign that followed Slot's Premier League title win. Liverpool have already signed Spanish winger Victor Munoz from Osasuna and French defender Jeremy Jacquet, whose signature was secured in January before Iraola's arrival. Midfielder Harvey Elliott is set to return from a loan spell at Aston Villa.
“Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes is expected to leave next summer for Al Hilal; club also targets Diomande and Bouaddi.”
The Reds continue to be linked with attackers, including Paris St-Germain's Bradley Barcola, but are set to be disappointed in their pursuit of Ivory Coast star Yan Diomande, who prefers a move to PSG this summer. However, former Liverpool midfielder Joe Cole has advised Diomande to ignore PSG's overtures. "There's a lot of top-level wingers in world football right now, but Diomande is as good as I've seen; he's so explosive," Cole said via Paddy Power.
Meanwhile, Liverpool are among the clubs reportedly interested in Lille midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi, who has impressed for Morocco at the World Cup. But Lille president Olivier Letang has hinted at a huge price tag, citing recent sales of Elliot Anderson (£116m to Manchester City) and Sandro Tonali (£100m to Tottenham Hotspur) as benchmarks. "He's already one of the best midfielders in the world and still has significant room for improvement," Letang told Eurosport. "Many clubs are interested in him, but very few can afford him right now."
Iraola has also added to his backroom staff, with Tommy Elphick and Shaun Cooper joining as first-team coaches, Pablo de la Torre as assistant coach, and Tom Webber as first-team tactical coach – all having worked with Iraola at Bournemouth.