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Like Arne Slot, history might be kind to Liverpool’s sporting director Richard Hughes – but right now, fans will be in no rush to wave off his farewell plane.
He was the man that recruited Slot himself, after all. When Jurgen Klopp quit, Hughes thought out of the box and identified a replacement that, really, no fan was calling for. Twelve months later, Slot and Hughes were on the Anfield pitch holding aloft the Premier League trophy.
Hughes was also the man who convinced Florian Wirtz to join the club when pretty much every team in Europe fancied him.
A few weeks later, Hughes and Slot handled themselves with class in public statements and private actions when Diogo Jota tragically died in a car crash at just 28.
The Scottish transfer chief was the man who recruited Alexander Isak when the word from Newcastle all summer was that the Swede simply was not for sale.
Neither Isak or Wirtz have flourished just yet but both are showing signs that this could be their year – and that their axis could be frightening for opponents up and down the land.
Richard Hughes was the man who appointed Arne Slot, and together the pair were celebrating the Premier League title a year later. Now the picture looks very different, however
Hughes' big-money purchases of Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz are yet to bear fruit
At the end of that record-breaking transfer window in 2025, where Liverpool spent a whopping £446million, Hughes was adored by supporters and made into internet memes. ‘Big Moves Hughes’, one member of the YouTube channel Redmen TV dubbed him.
The poor chap who came up with that nickname is reminded of it every day because a year on, ‘Big Moves Hughes’ is now heading for his own big move – to Saudi Arabia – and few fans will be sad to see him go.
There is a small section of Liverpool fans on social media that seem to spend the majority of their waking hours shouting at screens or sending abusive messages to people they have never met in person.
It says something, then, that Hughes has been public enemy No 1 at times this summer.
This ire comes in a window where they have a bigger net spend than anyone in the league, with one buy just £2million shy of the British transfer record.
Since winning the Premier League title, in fact, Liverpool have spent £693million on first-team players.
So why does everyone dislike Hughes?
The first reason is a stubbornness to strengthen certain positions on the pitch which leave new head coach Andoni Iraola, who Hughes has now recruited at both Bournemouth and Liverpool, brutally undercooked.
Signing Bradley Barcola is a fine bit of business and a potential game-changer – but can the Reds achieve their dreams this season when they are so blatantly light at full back and central midfield?
Signing Bradley Barcola is a fine bit of business and a potential game-changer – but can the Reds achieve their dreams this season when they are so blatantly light in other positions?
Jeremie Frimpong, who has struggled for form this season, is the only fit right back at the club
As they have shown in both games so far, scoring goals will be no issue whatsoever. It is the fact 35-year-old Virgil van Dijk and his new defensive partner Jeremy Jacquet resemble soldiers entering a battlefield with no armour.
You could have the best artillery and weapons in the world but you will not win the war if your troops cannot defend their position, too.
The need for a deeper-lying midfield is not a new thing, nor is it an overreaction to two league fixtures. They have been crying out for one since Fabinho left in 2023, arguably even further when you note the Brazilian started to decline before his exit.
At full back, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez might come good eventually. For now, though, they are both seismic downgrades on Trent Alexander-Arnold and a prime Andy Robertson.
Frimpong is the only fit right back at the club, with Conor Bradley missing since January with a horrific knee injury. If the Dutchman, noticeably poor in the opening fixtures, gets injured – as he did a lot last term – there is no back-up.
They could ask loanee Ronald Araujo to cover, but he is needed also to cover at centre back where Joe Gomez and Giovanni Leoni are both on the treatment table. At left back, Kerkez’s deputy is Kostas Tsimikas, who struggled for minutes on loan at Roma last term.
There is a need to be realistic and we know there is no money tree at Anfield. But not signing a midfielder again – and another full back – leaves Liverpool incredibly short. If this turns out to be an unsuccessful season, fan ire may not turn to new boss Iraola but the board.
Given the money spent, it is categorically wrong to accuse anyone of lacking ambition, as some supporters have done. But it is fair to question the plan and ask whether the posh seats give a different view on the game. From where everyone else sits, midfield is a glaring weakness.
As Hughes heads for the exit door, it is hard to escape the feeling that new boss Andoni Iraola has been left short-changed
Instead, most of Hughes’s eggs were in the forward basket. Yankuba Minteh and Ismaila Sarr were targeted but ultimately came to nothing. In fairness, neither made sense: Sarr is 28 and not an upgrade on potential departee Cody Gakpo; Minteh has potential but is injured right now.
Liverpool had known of Mohamed Salah’s exit for half a year yet it felt like they were panicking in the last 10 days of the window.
Leaders Van Dijk and Alisson are both only contracted until the end of this season. Gomez, Tsimikas and Wataru Endo are also in the same boat.
So next summer is already shaping up to be busy as Liverpool feels like a carousel of chaos in a revolving state of transition. It is likely that Hughes will have his feet up in Saudi Arabia, with a move to Al Hilal having been in the works for months.
The sporting director might be remembered more fondly once the likes of Isak and Wirtz click, plus the two wingers he signed this summer – Barcola and Victor Munoz – look like shrewd business.
But as this summer window closes and Hughes heads for the exit door, it is hard to escape the feeling that Iraola has been left short-changed and that, for all the glamorous assets Liverpool have, there are still several design faults not fixed.
