Fabrizio Romano has said that he’s ‘aware’ of links involving Liverpool and one potential sporting director candidate who’d be ‘an excellent option’.
Jorg Schmadtke’s time in that role at Anfield is set to end once the January transfer window closes tonight, leaving the Reds looking for a successor to the 59-year-old.
Foremost among the reported contenders to come into the club is Tim Steidten (Daily Mail), who currently holds that position at West Ham and boasts a formidable reputation
In his latest Daily Briefing for CaughtOffside, Romano wrote: “With Liverpool, I’ll be more clear on their situation regarding a new sporting director in the next days – nothing is happening this week apart from Michael Edwards being approached last weekend.
“I’m aware, however, of links with Tim Steidten and in my opinion he would be an excellent option – he did an incredible job at Bayer Leverkusen and he’s also now doing great at West Ham; but let’s see, it’s still early stages in Liverpool’s search.”
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Liverpool fans will probably be aware of one huge plus to potentially hiring Steidten – he was the sporting director who brought Xabi Alonso to Bayer Leverkusen in 2022, which may help the Reds if they’re keen on appointing the Spaniard as Jurgen Klopp’s successor as manager.
That’ll obviously be contingent on whether the 42-year-old would be interested in returning to Anfield in a managerial capacity, but the pre-existing relationship with the West Ham chief could help if the latter takes over from Schmadtke.
Steidten has a reputation as an astute operator in the transfer market, having signed Kevin De Bruyne and Serge Gnabry during his time at Werder Bremen while putting the £105m that the Irons banked from selling Declan Rice last summer towards bringing in James Ward-Prowse, Mohammed Kudus and Edson Alvarez (Daily Mail).
One possible complication is that the 44-year-old only joined the east London club last summer and might be reluctant to move again so soon, while Liverpool could need to submit an enticing proposal to persuade the Hammers to part with such a crucial employee.
If those hurdles can be overcome, though, the German would definitely seem like an ideal choice to replace his compatriot Schmadtke at Anfield.
made up nonsense by a made up “reporter”
Time will tell but amazing how often Fabrizio has his fingers on the pulse. If you had the choice of staying at west ham or moving into the big league with a top 4 club, what would you choose? Of course some prefer to hide in mediocrity.