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If Richard Hughes has already been sounding out the agents of the Liverpool squad prior to his official start as sporting director, it's likely he's doing the same for the representatives of others too.
Hughes's soft launch into the role, which began officially 1st June, started with him reaching out to a few of those who look after the contract situations of the players at Anfield
Those with knowledge of the talks insisting it was more of an informal introduction more than anything more serious.
It does at least paint the picture of a proactive sporting director and with plenty to sort for a new-look Liverpool this summer
Michael Edwards, was quick to headhunt the now former Bournemouth sporting director and former Scotland international Hughes has wasted little to no time getting going
It is relationships with agents that have proven integral to the cause behind the scenes at Anfield in recent years
Fees made public by the Football Association earlier this year revealed that Liverpool paid agents £31.5m between February 2023 and 24
Clearly, then, there are profits to be made for representatives and agents when Liverpool come calling
One of the ways they have been able to bring in such quality has been their use of release clauses.
Three years ago, for example, the club triggered Ibrahima Konate's £36m release fee to land him from RB Leipzig
18 months earlier a a little known £7m sum was discovered in the contract of Takumi Minamino at Red Bull Salzburg
The Reds unearthed the clauses for both Minamino and Konate through their good contacts and working partnerships with those at the Red Bull Stable
Dominik Szoboszlai was another whose release clause was met 12 months ago when Liverpool opened talks with the Hungarian captain's agent Matyas Estzerhazy just days before triggering the £60m sum
It was a fee then sporting director Jorg Schmadtke felt was excessive but with time against the Reds, they might not have brought in the 23-year-old midfielder had the clause not been brought to light through discussions with Esterhazy
Schmadtke
“In Liverpool there was someone who cost €70million, Dominik Szoboszlai, who we brought from Leipzig,"
“Then I said: ‘It’s too expensive’. From today’s perspective, that was a misjudgment on my part.
“The boy was an important Liverpool player from day one. He performed better than I would have expected him to.”
Liverpool managed to beat the queue to Alexis Mac Allister 12 months ago after working with his agent, Juan Gemelli, to establish release terms that stood at £35m
Release clauses, while sometimes deliberately high by design, allow buying clubs to avoid the process of extensive and often laborious negotiations
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