Liverpool’s former sporting director Michael Edwards has returned to FSG.

He worked closely with Jürgen Klopp during a great period of success at Anfield.

Michael Edwards and Liverpool’s new sporting director will soon get to work in appointing Jürgen Klopp’s successor at Anfield.

Edwards, who is credited with the deals that helped Liverpool win the Premier League and Champions League, has taken up a new role as FSG’s ‘CEO of Football’.

While Liverpool will not be his primary focus, Edwards did confirm in a statement that the ‘essential leading positions’ at Anfield needed ‘urgent attention’. The first of those will be appointing a new sporting director, with Richard Hughes expected to arrive from Bournemouth.

Klopp revealed last week that he had spoken with Edwards and was delighted that he was returning, adding: “I said it a few times, I want to see the club in the best possible place after I leave, so everything we can do as long as I am here, I will do.”

During his first spell at the club, Edwards made some fantastic signings, including current captain Virgil van Dijk, Liverpool legends Sadio Mané and Roberto Firmino, and great value buys including Andrew Robertson and Joël Matip. He also agreed a deal to sell Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona for $186m (£146m/€171m), boosting the club’s finances.

But according to the Daily Express, he had to convince Klopp to sign Mohamed Salah in the summer of 2017, before the Egyptian became the Liverpool legend he now is. The club’s recruitment team did thorough checks on Salah during his time in Italy with Fiorentina and Roma, and they liked what they saw.

Klopp previously recalled giving the green light to the deal after being urged to sign Salah by Edwards and the recruitment team. He said: “We watched Salah so often, saw him so often. The scouting department was really behind me, and wanted to do it even earlier so that nobody could jump in! We were sure he can help us. Michael Edwards, Dave Fallows and Barry (Hunter), they were really in my ear and were on it ‘Come on, come on, Mo Salah, he’s the solution!’

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“When you have 20 players on the table, different players, it’s difficult to make an early decision, but we all were convinced about it so could make the early decision so we could really get him. He’s a fantastic person, a nice lad and a really good football player.”

Salah became the first Liverpool player to score 20 or more goals in seven seasons in a row with his strike against Sparta Prague in midweek, The match was also the first time he has completed 90 minutes in over two months as he hopes to feature against Manchester United on Sunday.

Liverpool.com says: It doesn’t appear that Klopp needed much persuading to sign Salah but Edwards and the recruitment team were clearly very impressed. They pushed for the Reds to get the deal over the line but surely won’t have predicted the impact he would have at Anfield. He is arguably Liverpool’s best ever signing. While Edwards will not be directly involved in transfer this time around he will likely still have some tips and words of advice for his latest successor.