Jamie Carragher, a former Liverpool defender, has revealed a chat he had with the former Reds sports director.
Jamie Carragher has detailed the conversation he had with former Liverpool sporting director Michael Edwards that left him ‘startled’.
The executive was at the helm at Anfield during the Reds’ rise to the pinnacle of European and English football under Jurgen Klopp. It became clear that Edwards was one of the masterminds behind the astute business that brought Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker – to name a few – to the six-time Champions League winners.
Said trio have been at the forefront of Liverpool’s battle for major club honours and Edwards departed his role last summer, after announcing he was stepping down in November 2021.
Carragher detailed his chat with the transfer guru about the change in the role of player agents since his time in the professional game. Speaking on the 90 minutes with Neville Southall podcast, the former defender said:
“I spoke to the guy who left Liverpool, Michael Edwards, I spoke to him two or three years ago – you’re probably not going to like hearing this Nev – he said Liverpool have been famed for the last four or five years being great in the transfer market, being ahead of the curve, getting players, going under the radar in terms of press speculation.
“He said the biggest thing for them was the relationship with agents. Whether that’s speaking to them, financially I’m sure that plays a big part as well, it was startling really. I think players now the worry is, completely different to mine and your day, but I spoke to Alex Inglethorpe who is part of the academy at Liverpool and players at that age getting agents.
“He said the agent, he plays the role of everybody, he’s the father-figure, he’s the agent, the sounding board, best friend in some instances for players moving round the world and the agent fulfils every role that we had as players – going out with your friends.
“The first person I spoke to after a game was my dad, I don’t really speak to my agent that much, we still have a good relationship but the advice from the agent to the player where he needs to go is paramount. I got it from the gospel’s mouth at Liverpool who are seen as great in the transfer market and that’s the biggest thing he said to me.”
source: https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/
