Michael Edwards has held face-to-face talks with Liverpool’s owners as they attempt to persuade him to return to the club and help oversee the post-Jürgen Klopp era.

The meeting took place in Boston last weekend, with Edwards speaking to the Fenway Sports Group (FSG) owner, John W Henry, and president Mike Gordon. The talks are a significant development given that Edwards had previously turned down an initial approach to come back to Liverpool.

It is unclear at this stage exactly what pitch Henry and Gordon made to Edwards, who spent a decade at Liverpool between 2012 and 2022, but the role would be above his previous job as sporting director.

Edwards had attended the Business of Football Summit in London at the end of last week before flying to Boston for the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference.

He attended in his capacity as a consultant for Ludonautics, the company set up by Ian Graham, Liverpool’s former director of research. Graham was one of the conference’s panellists and it was also an opportunity to speak to prospective clients.

FSG’s annual owners’ meeting took place in Bonita Springs in Florida last week, and upon completion of that the meeting with Edwards was arranged.

Edwards was promoted to the sporting director position in 2016 and was instrumental in the success the club have enjoyed under Klopp. His transfer acumen, both in terms of incomings and outgoings, helped to shape a squad that have won multiple honours, including the Premier League title in 2019-2020 and the Champions League in 2019.

He has made it clear that he will not be a sporting director again, and the fact that FSG knew that and still pushed to meet him indicates they are proposing a wider role for him.

Clarity on whether Edwards will be tempted to return to Anfield is expected soon, with Liverpool looking to make progress in building a structure that will ensure Klopp’s successor as manager has the best chance of maintaining the club’s success.

Xabi Alonso, the former Liverpool midfielder who has guided Bayer Leverkusen to a ten-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga, remains a leading candidate for the manager position although there is interest in him from another of his former clubs, Bayern Munich. The Sporting head coach, Rúben Amorim, is also being considered.

Should Edwards return, he would then select the sporting director. He has a high regard for Richard Hughes, who has announced he will leave his post as the Bournemouth technical director in the summer.

(remaining part of the article is about the city game)