Al-Hilal snatch Hughes: landmines await his successor at Liverpool

David Woodfine ranks among the strongly touted names. He worked as an assistant to Richard Hughes and previously held the position of loan players manager at Liverpool.

With extensive knowledge of the club and how it operates, Woodfine was seen showing Iraola around the facilities of the AXA training centre following the coach's arrival in June.

Julian Ward's name also crops up. He held the position of sporting director at Liverpool between 2022 and 2023, playing a role in a number of important deals, including the signings of Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo, Alexis Mac Allister and Darwin Nunez.

Ward currently works as technical director of Fenway Sports Group, making him one of the natural options for the Liverpool board. His deep knowledge of the club and its sporting decision-making mechanism only strengthens the case.

Another touted name is Pedro Marques, the football development director at Fenway Sports Group, who previously held the position of technical director at Portuguese club Benfica.

Marques was part of the management that helped sign Enzo Fernandez for 10 million pounds sterling, before working as a first-team performance analyst at Manchester City.

Outside the club, Luis Campos stands out as one of the strongest options. The current Paris Saint-Germain sporting director looks unlikely to leave the European champions any time soon, though.

Whoever succeeds Hughes, the new sporting director will face a large group of important files. His departure will not be the only change in the recruitment system, either, after he took two of Liverpool's recruitment officials, Mark Burchill and Craig Mackie, with him to the Middle East.

The future of Alisson Becker will be one of the most prominent issues awaiting the new sporting director, as the Brazilian goalkeeper's contract with Liverpool expires at the end of the current season.

Juventus chased Alisson during the summer transfer window, but Liverpool refused to part with their goalkeeper, who remains the undisputed first choice among the club's officials and coaching staff.

Arne Slot also handed him one of the vice-captaincies. The 33-year-old has started all three of the team's league matches so far, even if he is yet to hit his usual best.

Other options exist in the goalkeeping department, but Giorgi Mamardashvili has not yet delivered the level that offers complete reassurance. Meanwhile, the club await the arrival of 18-year-old Luka Broegmans from Genk next summer in a deal that could reach 30 million pounds sterling.

Even so, few would view Broegmans as a goalkeeper ready to shoulder first-team responsibility straight away.

Regarded as one of the standout players of Liverpool's recent golden generation, Alisson helped deliver two titles in the Premier League and the Champions League. The new sporting director must therefore make an extremely important call on trying to extend his Anfield stay for at least another season.

Virgil van Dijk's situation is no less pressing, with the captain's contract also expiring next summer.

Several leadership figures have already gone, chief among them Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson at the end of last season. Liverpool now need experience in the dressing room more than ever, which makes losing Alisson and Van Dijk in the same window a significant risk.

Now in his 35th year, Van Dijk has played every minute of Liverpool's league matches so far, following his return from the long rest period he was given after the World Cup.

The Dutch defender may lack the raw physical strength of his early years at the club, yet he remains, without doubt, one of the best centre-backs in Europe.

A group of talented young defenders sit behind him, among them Jeremie Frimpong, Giovanni Leoni, Ivane Ndkoy and Mour Talla Ndiaye. The new sporting director may see Van Dijk's continuation as the ideal chance for those players to learn from one of the finest defenders of his generation.

Arteta may believe Liverpool possess "good options" in midfield, but this position could become one of the most pressing files facing the new sporting director.

The club left the midfield untouched over the summer, and Curtis Jones's move to Inter Milan only thinned out the choices available to the coaching staff.

Trey Nyoni has been handed more room to grow instead. The 19-year-old caught the eye on the pre-season tour of the United States.

With the fixtures piling up and the pressure of competitions mounting, a significant responsibility will fall on Dominik Szoboszlai, Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister.

One injury to any of that trio could leave the team facing a genuine crisis in the middle of the season, especially with no great abundance of alternative options.

Liverpool had shown interest in Monaco's Lamine Camara, according to "BBC Sport" last week, but the club were not planning to sign a new midfielder during the summer.

Expect this position to become a priority in the winter window or next summer, particularly if talks over extending Mac Allister's contract prove difficult. His current deal runs until 2028.

No negotiations over a new contract for the Argentine are under way at present. That makes his future one of the files Hughes's successor will need to monitor in the coming period.

Up top, things look more settled. Hughes spent his tenure loading the attack with a series of important signings.

Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Victor Munoz and Bradley Barcola all arrived, handing Liverpool a glut of attacking options.

Rio Ngumoha, 18, sits close to a long-term deal with the club, and the competition for places in the front line at Anfield looks fierce.

Liverpool also refused to let Cody Gakpo join Manchester City during the summer window.

The Dutch forward has scored one goal and provided three assists so far this season. That stance could shift, though, if the club land a new winger and a tempting financial offer arrives to part with Gakpo.

Building a successful working relationship with manager Andoni Iraola may be one of the most important tasks awaiting the new sporting director. Billy Hogan, the chief executive of Liverpool, had tried this summer to stress that the club enjoys stability, telling "BBC Sport": "I would like to make clear that, as a football club, we are in a very healthy position. The leadership from the owners' side enjoys great stability, and we are looking forward with enthusiasm to next season and beyond."

The reality tells a different story. Liverpool's summer brought wide-ranging change. The club swapped managers, welcomed new investors and lost several of its most prominent players, while its sporting director walked away a full year before the expected date. Nor did it end there. Michael Edwards, the man who had made the call to appoint Hughes, resigned as chief executive of football at Fenway Sports Group.

Hughes had played a pivotal role in the decision to sack Slot and appoint Iraola, which hands the new sporting director a delicate responsibility. He will carry significant influence over the future of the Spanish manager at the club. On his arrival at Liverpool, Iraola made clear he had signed for only two years, because he does not want to stay anywhere simply because a contract binds him to the club. His strong relationship with Richard Hughes, forged during their time together at Bournemouth, was among the factors that took him to the Liverpool job.

Now, with Hughes gone, a new sporting director must build a different bond with Iraola and work with him on a long-term project to return Liverpool to the fight for titles. The task runs deeper than picking new signings or sorting out players' contracts. It means rebuilding stability within the club's sporting structure, taking decisive calls on the future of Alisson and Van Dijk, addressing a potential shortage in midfield, maintaining the attacking balance and, above all, ensuring a strong and balanced relationship with Iraola.

Filling a vacant post, then, is the least of it. Liverpool's new sporting director faces a genuine test: to define the features of a new phase in the history of the Reds.