Liverpool have confirmed Richard Hughes as their new sporting director.
Hughes will begin work at Anfield at the end of this season, having already signalled his intention to step down as Bournemouth’s technical director after nearly 10 years.
The former Scotland international already boasts a 20-year link with Michael Edwards, who rejoined the Reds as owners Fenway Sports Group’s CEO of football.
Hughes, who scored Portsmouth’s winning goal that knocked Liverpool out of the 2004 FA Cup, will be tasked with aiding the club’s post-Jurgen Klopp era rebuild.
He said: “I am incredibly proud to be offered this opportunity.
“Liverpool FC is a unique club and I’m grateful to be given a chance to serve it in this capacity.
“People rightly talk about the rich history this organisation can boast, but it is the present and future which really excites me.
“It will be my job, working with Michael and leading the football operations team already in place, plus the wider staff at the AXA Training Centre, to make good decisions.
“That’s really what the job entails: you have to make the kind of good decisions which enhance the prospects of having a team that wins and excites the supporters.
“It is what Liverpool have done well for a very long time and the benefits are there for everyone to see.”
Edwards added: “It is clear to everyone that Jurgen will leave a legacy to build upon and in Richard we have the right person to make the key decisions and offer the leadership to take us forward into a bright future.
“As one very successful chapter will come to a close for Liverpool in the summer, the objective of everyone here is for another one to begin – and with Richard I am confident we have the right person in position for us to achieve this aim.”