How Liverpool’s Richard Hughes fared against Xabi Alonso as 2006 photo captures pair in Premier League battle

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Liverpool have appointed Richard Hughes as their new sporting director amid rumours of a move for Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso.

Next season promises to be a real new era at Liverpool.

Jurgen Klopp will be gone and there will be a new sporting director at the helm following the departure of Jorg Schmadtke.

That new era has already started with Michael Edwards returning to the club via an expanded role within the Fenway Sports Group.

Edwards has now secured a sporting director too with Richard Hughes confirmed as Liverpool’s latest appointment on Wednesday.

Hughes currently serves as the technical director of Bournemouth and will be heading to Anfield at the end of the season.

The Scot will be charged with the task of finding a new manager and one of his former opponents is the hot favourite…

Richard Hughes v Xabi Alonso

Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso is the most popular name in the frame for the Liverpool job.

HITC Football understands that Liverpool are ‘quietly confident’ of bringing Alonso back to Anfield this summer.

Alonso is currently 10 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga and is set to bring Leverkusen’s first-ever league title win.

Liverpool understandably want Alonso given his excellence as an up-and-coming coach and as a former Reds midfielder.

We went back through the archives and found this photo of Hughes taking on Alonso in a midfield battle during a 2006 meeting between Portsmouth and Liverpool.

Both were midfielders in their playing days and went up against each other on a number of occasions.

Hughes – rather unsurprisingly given Liverpool’s strength – didn’t have the best of records against Alonso, winning just once in six attempts.

Alonso claimed five victories in that time, including a 3-1 win during the 2006 clash pictured above.

Hughes and Alonso were battling it out in midfield in the 2000’s but could end up working very closely together at Liverpool in the near future.

That sounds like an exciting combination for Liverpool’s future and one which could bring even more success to Anfield in a tricky post-Klopp landscape.