London (AFP) – Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp stressed he would have the “final say” over which players were bought and sold at Anfield after the Merseysiders announced Friday their newly-created post of sporting director.
Michael Edwards, who previously held backroom roles as Liverpool’s head of analytics, director of technical performance and technical director has the new role.
Many British-born managers have been uneasy at having someone who sits between them and the chief executive in the hierarchy of a club, with Klopp’s Liverpool predecessor Brendan Rodgers a case in point.
Rodgers was not comfortable with the transfer committee in operation during his time at Anfield.
The post of sporting director is far more common at leading mainland European clubs and German manager Klopp worked under such an arrangement at Borussia Dortmund, his previous team before joining Liverpool.
And he insisted he still retained overall control despite Edwards’s appointment.
“I had the final say before; that’s not actually news,” Klopp said. “In moments when somebody is not happy with whatever and you ask here — your player or his player? It’s always my player. I can’t blame anyone for anything. I can take the pressure.
“It’s about the work, there is a lot of work behind the scenes. You need the best people you can get. In this business, the manager can not, should not, and is not allowed to be a one-man show.
“I’m a specialist in football things. I know a lot, but not everything, I like to have the best people around me. Michael is for sure one of the best I have met.”
Klopp added: “The work with Michael was brilliant, full of faith, trust, all that you need.
“Transfers are always going the same way. The style maybe is different because it’s possible whoever brings the player to the table, if it’s me, my assistant, Michael, scouting department — we have a lot of things to watch and talk about, and in the end I will always have the final say, maybe that’s the most important thing for you to know.
“If something is wrong, was wrong or will be wrong in the future with transfers it’s my responsibility.
“He (Edwards) is a really good person who did a lot of different jobs. It’s absolutely natural, an easy decision to make.
“Only because it’s in England it’s a little bit bigger; all over the world football clubs work like this.”
