Liverpool consider £80m transfer moves as Richard Hughes repeats Michael Edwards trick

Liverpool consider £80m transfer moves as Richard Hughes repeats Michael Edwards trick

Liverpool are considering making the most of their knowledge base by triggering release clauses in potential transfer targets

Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes is in for a busy summer (Image: John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images )

Knowledge is power. So here's a quick brain teaser to get the old grey matter working.

What do Liverpool triumvirate Ibrahima Konate, Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister all have in common? Well, apart from the fact they are all somewhere around the globe continuing their hard-earned celebrations following the Premier League title triumph by Arne Slot's side.

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Time's up. Give yourself a pat on the back, then, if you correctly determined the trio were all brought to Anfield by the triggering of a release clause in their respective contracts.

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Konate was the first arrival in May 2021 when the Reds met the £36million figure asked from RB Leipzig. Two years later, it required only £35m to automatically prise Mac Allister away from Brighton, while a few weeks on £60m saw Szoboszlai follow the path trodden by Konate from Leipzig.

Such deals are nothing new for Liverpool, who had previously snapped up Xherdan Shaqiri, Takumi Minamino and Naby Keita by the same method.

And Martin Zubimendi would have done likewise last summer had he not opted to instead remain at Real Sociedad, with perennial runners-up Arsenal now expected to be his next destination in the coming weeks.

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During the period with Michael Edwards as sporting director, Liverpool gained a reputation for becoming proficient at not only capitalising on release clauses but also discovering them in the first place. For obvious reasons, they aren't always the easiest pieces of information to source.

For all the talk of data-driven transfers - and such analytics have played an important part in the Reds determining the right signings to help the club to success under Jurgen Klopp and now Arne Slot - it matters little without the necessary relationships to facilitate such moves.

And with Edwards having last year returned as the first chief executive of football with Liverpool's owners Fenway Sports Group, the Reds - who then appointed Edwards' long-time colleague Richard Hughes as sporting director - are once again in a strong position to use their knowledge base to determine attainable players with attractive release clauses and move early before others are able to pounce.

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Mac Allister is the best example of paying a relatively low asking price in a move that caught several of Liverpool's rivals unawares. And, of course, it avoids the unseemly distraction of a bidding war with other potential suitors.

The Reds are already considering a number of players who have a release clause in their current contract.

Chief among those is Jeremie Frimpong, who can be prised away from Bayer Leverkusen should Liverpool choose to pursue a new right-back. The right-sided former Manchester City and Celtic player, who is understood to be receptive over a move to Anfield, has featured both at full-back and wing-back this season and is available for around £30m.

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And Liverpool are among a group of clubs considering a move for 20-year-old Bournemouth centre-back Dean Huijsen. The Spain international, who is also being tracked by Arsenal, Chelsea and Real Madrid, is understood to have a release clause of £50m.

Should the Reds pursue either deal, it will then come down to the persuasive powers of the club and the prospect of working with Slot and the Premier League champions. And as Konate, Mac Allister and Szoboszlai can currently attest, a move to Anfield can ultimately prove something worth celebrating.

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