Scot who must find Jurgen Klopp’s replacement is an ‘encyclopedia of football’

• Richard Hughes has become more conspicuous after hanging up his boots 
• He teamed up with Eddie Howe as Bournemouth enjoyed an astonishing rise
• Have Manchester United derailed Liverpool’s season? Listen to the It’s All Kicking Off podcast

Richard Hughes’ life in football to date has been an intriguing old affair. Despite being raised in Italy due to his father’s job, he was born in Glasgow yet never once appeared on the radar of any clubs north of the border.

A youth player with Atalanta after being scouted by AC Milan, he was signed by Arsenal after moving to England and deemed good enough to pull on a Scotland shirt on five occasions. But his name and face would still draw blanks from most members of the Tartan Army.

The truth is that despite a stellar career on England’s south coast with Bournemouth and Portsmouth, the 44-year-old became more conspicuous in the game once his boots were on the peg.

Having joined the Cherries’ recruitment team under Eddie Howe, Hughes’ profile rose in tandem with that of the team. By the time Bournemouth had completed their astonishing ascent to the Premier League, the Scot had risen to become their technical director.

Front of house, Howe, understandably, took most of the credit. But in the boardrooms up and down the land, Hughes’ part in one of the great success stories of the English game this century was noted.

‘I’m hopefully loading his gun to fire as many good bullets as possible,’ he said after Bournemouth completed their meteoric rise to the top. ‘That’s what I see my main job as.’

Tipped to be part of the support network at Celtic in 2021, Hughes was denied the chance to work at the home of his boyhood heroes when Howe backed out of negotiations and Ange Postecoglou got the job instead.

Hughes remained at the Vitality Stadium until leaving his role in November last year but on Wednesday it was confirmed that he is to become Liverpool’s new sporting director.

A position that comes with huge responsibility at the best of times, Hughes’ first priority is to source Jurgen Klopp’s successor. No pressure, then.

While his elevation to one of the most coveted positions in the game has been mooted for some time, Hughes seemed an unlikely mover and shaker as he wound down his playing days.

Although a deep thinker and someone with an insatiable thirst for knowledge, he seemed to have had his fill of day-to-day football when he called it quits at Dean Court 10 years ago.

Between occasional punditry and the London restaurant he owned with his brother, he didn’t appear to have the time or the inclination to pull on a sharp suit and spend life with a mobile phone welded to his ear.

‘At this moment in time, I don’t have a clear vision of what I will be doing,’ he said back in 2014. ‘The opportunities I have and the ones I am given will dictate that.

‘You want to have as meaningful a role in football as possible, though, and I think punditry is meaningful to an extent. But if something more hands-on came about and it was right, then I could see myself staying in the game.

‘It happens a lot in football but I’m not desperate to be out on the training pitch.’

Howe had other ideas, though. Having returned to the south coast club after a spell at Burnley, he saw enough in the midfielder — himself back in town after nine years at Pompey — to convince him that the TV studios should wait.

Four years after almost dropping out of the Football League, Bournemouth won promotion to the Premier League for the first time in 2015, staying there for five seasons.

With shrewd trading, the club were able to draft in talents such as Dominic Solanke, Nathan Ake and Tyrone Mings. Hughes had found his calling in life.

‘I didn’t necessarily have ambitions to work in the recruitment side of things when I was a player,’ he insisted. ‘I was a student of the game, I loved analysing the game and loved having an opinion and sharing it with people — and I’ve found myself doing all that in recruitment.’

The company he kept as a player certainly opened his eyes to what makes the very best of them tick. At Portsmouth, he counted Sol Campbell, Sylvain Distin, Sulley Muntari and Nwankwo Kanu as team-mates.

Led by Harry Redknapp, they won the FA Cup in 2008, defeating Cardiff in the final. Hughes didn’t feature at Wembley, but he earned a medal for playing in two earlier ties.

But it would be the relationship he formed in a Portakabin at the club’s training ground that would have the biggest impact on his professional life.

Brought in by Redknapp as a data analyst, one Michael Edwards immediately hit it off with the insightful Scot.

‘On Mondays, he used to be the first port of call for myself and a good few of the other boys,’ Hughes explained. ‘We’d go into his office and have our stats read back to us on how we’d performed at the weekend. He’d played football himself, so he was used to that sort of camaraderie and those exchanges of banter with footballers. Michael was different because he had an opinion and he’d let you know it.’

Edwards would go on to join Redknapp at Tottenham before moving to Liverpool in 2011 as the Reds — now under the ownership of Fenway Sports Group — sought to bring in a new data-led approach.

Initially a performance director, Edwards endured a difficult start to life at Anfield. As a key member of the much-maligned transfer committee, he was held responsible for poor signings such as Lazar Markovic. There were tensions with then manager Brendan Rodgers, with Edwards keeping a low profile.

This all changed when Klopp arrived in 2015. Edwards was officially made sporting director in 2016 with his office directly opposite the manager’s at Melwood.

Instrumental in the acquisitions of Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Alisson, the rest is Premier League and Champions League history.

After a brief hiatus with advisory firm Ludonautics, Edwards returned to the club a week ago as CEO of football. His first call was to recruit his old friend and colleague to replace the outgoing Jorg Schmadtke.

Hughes doesn’t officially start until June 1, but Liverpool’s strong relationship with Bournemouth should ensure that’s not an issue.

As well as the small matter of sourcing Klopp’s successor, he will soon have to turn his mind to the fact that the contracts of Salah, Van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold all expire in a year.

Those who know him best contend he is the right man at the right time to keep one of the game’s great clubs moving forward.

‘Richard is so knowledgeable, knows every player around Europe,’ said Redknapp. ‘You mention a player to him and he can tell you what they had for dinner last night.

‘He’s been a big part of Bournemouth’s success with his smart recruitment. He is an encyclopaedia of football.’