8 months ago
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He wouldn’t be working with Liverpool, though.
Fenway Sports Group has been hard at work towards the next stage of their sports ownership endeavor. The firm will have to evolve with the departure of Jürgen Klopp on the horizon, and they’ve already solidified one step in bringing back Michael Edwards as the new CEO of Football.
It has now become clear that one of the reasons Michael Edwards returned in the first place is to spearhead the acquisition of a second football club for FSG, and we already know he’s aiming to bring Bournemouth’s Richard Hughes along as the new sporting director.
Additionally, David Ornstein at The Athletic reports that Edwards and FSG are targeting Benfica’s technical director Pedro Marques to add skills and expertise for that second club effort.
“I believe that to remain competitive, investment and expansion of the current football portfolio is necessary,” Edwards said at the announcement of his new position.
Marques himself would work directly with FSG in this role, then, rather than for Liverpool. He had already done work with the Boston based firm with being instrumental in the signing of Darwin Núñez, as well as having a relationship with Edwards’ mentee Julian Ward.
Marques started his career as a youth coach for for Sporting Lisbon in 2004, and ten years later moved to an analysis role for City Football Group - where he cut his teeth on one of the more complicated multi-club models. So he has a wealth of knowledge of what it takes to run multiple clubs with varying ranges of success.
He left CFG in 2018 to join Benfica as a youth technical director before becoming the senior technical director. A wealth of experience with developing a thriving youth program will also no doubt be seen as a benefit for FSG, after the foundation that Klopp built in fostering the Liverpool Academy system.
Of course, nothing is confirmed or complete just yet, but with a new chapter set to begin in June with a new manager, the future for FSG and Liverpool seems a little brighter.
