Richard Hughes, the architect of Liverpool’s post-Jürgen Klopp rebuild, is not expected to sign a new deal to remain at the club beyond 2027. His current contract expires next June, and the sporting director is likely to link up with former Bournemouth colleague Simon Francis at Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal — where Francis is already leading transfer activity after leaving the Cherries at the end of the season. Both Al Hilal and Francis are operating on the basis that Hughes will join.
Francis replaced Hughes as Bournemouth’s technical director when Hughes was hired by Liverpool’s owners, Fenway Sports Group, in 2024. The move ended a long association with the south-coast club, where Hughes had recommended the Spaniard Andoni Iraola as head coach in 2023. That relationship endures: Iraola this week replaced the sacked Arne Slot at Anfield, having himself taken over from Slot after a disappointing campaign — Slot having won the Premier League in his first season only to be dismissed at the end of the last.
“Richard Hughes is set to leave Liverpool next summer, expected to join Saudi club Al Hilal.”
For now, Hughes and Liverpool are focused solely on the current transfer window and the forthcoming season — Iraola’s first. Liverpool have already signed French defender Jeremy Jacquet, whose signature was secured in January before Iraola’s arrival, and Spanish winger Victor Munoz. Midfielder Harvey Elliott is set to return to the club after his loan spell at Aston Villa expired. The club 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 week Liverpool officially agreed deals with Tommy Elphick and Shaun Cooper to join Iraola’s backroom staff as first-team coaches at Anfield. Pablo de la Torre arrives as an assistant coach — the fourth time he has worked with Iraola at a different club — while Tom Webber, who also worked with Iraola at Bournemouth, joins as first-team tactical coach after a decade in performance analysis at the Cherries.
The departure of Hughes, should it materialise, would leave a significant void in Liverpool’s football operations. With Iraola still settling in and a crucial transfer window ahead, the club must now plan for a future without the man who shaped its current direction.