Credit: Imago

Wayne Veysey

Thu 19 March 2026 11:56, UK

Follow us on Google Discover

Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes is on a three-man shortlist to join Saudi club Al-Ahli, sources have told Football Insider.

The 46-year-old’s future at Anfield is up in the air amid mounting questions surrounding last summer’s record-breaking £450million signing spree.

Al-Ahli, who are third in the Saudi Pro League, are working on appointing a new director of football and Hughes is believed to be one of three recruitment chiefs in contention for the post.

Arne Slot has come under increasing pressure in recent months amid a failure to recreate the heights of his league-winning debut campaign, but the microscope is now beginning to focus on Hughes.

Of the 2025 summer signings only Hugo Ekitike has enjoyed an undeniably successful first season, with the likes of Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez having mixed debut campaigns while £125m standout Alexander Isak and Giovanni Leoni have spent most of the campaign injured.

Liverpool’s transfer chief took over in 2024 after spending almost 10 years as Bournemouth’s technical director.

Liverpool’s summer transfer window surveyed

Liverpool’s summer broke records for the most ever spent by a Premier League club in one transfer window.

Isak and Wirtz were the standouts of a staggering window that many perceived as a direct route to further success for the Reds.

The likes of Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez were ushered out of the door for big money, while some of the most exciting talent in Europe arrived at Anfield.

Nobody could have foreseen the disastrous season that has followed for Slot’s side, however.

Isak had got off to a slow start following his record move, and in December underwent surgery on a broken leg.

Jeremie Frimpong was brought in to replace Trent Alexander-Arnold, but he has also struggled with injury while failing to impress when fit.

Wirtz’s complete failure to adapt to the Premier League has been the biggest disappointment, however. The 22-year-old arrived with massive expectations, but his brilliance has been limited to rare moments, if that.

Former Manchester City financial adviser Stefan Borson exclusively told Football Insider in November that Hughes could leave Liverpool for a lucrative offer from the Saudi Pro League, and that possibility appears to be gaining traction.

Richard Hughes to rue Marc Guehi failures

On transfer deadline day last summer, Liverpool agreed a fee for the centre-back they had been chasing for months – Marc Guehi.

But the fact that they had left it so late left the door open for the deal to fall apart, and it did just that when Crystal Palace pulled the plug.

That decision has spectacularly blown up in Liverpool’s face, with Slot’s defence struggling and Guehi since signing for Man City in January.

There is much that cannot be fairly held against Hughes, but the decision to allow the deal for a main target to go until deadline day will be rightly held against him.