Richard Hughes ready to pull off £25m Liverpool transfer masterstroke

Let's be honest, we've all underestimated Richard Hughes.

A few months ago, the Liverpool sporting director was under a lot of scrutiny. His position was seriously under threat.

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Well, not literally, but if you were to ask the fans, that's what they would have said.

In reality, behind the scenes, Hughes has been working on an exciting summer than began a little earlier with the extensions of Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk.

It's set to continue with new arrivals. Giorgi Mamardashvili is about to walk through the doors at the AXA training centre this summer. Jeremie Frimpong will not be far behind him and Florian Wirtz and Milos Kerkez are expected to follow.

That's the beginning of a busy summer and Hughes will not stop there. He will have other priorities when it comes to recruiting players.

Meanwhile, he'll also be working in order to facilitate funds by selling some of the club's stars.

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After all, Hughes has been brought in to operate in the same way as FSG have always operated. He's the right-hand man to Michael Edwards who was brilliant at being able to sell fringe players for impressive sums.

Hughes is now looking to replicate that Edwards template and he'll be on a mission to generate a lot of transfer revenue.

Among probably his hardest sales will be Caoimhin Kelleher. The Republic of Irishman is a very good goalkeeper and he's highly regarded in the game.

That's not why he will be a challenge to be sold. He will have plenty of suitors. But he does only have one year left on his current deal.

Goalkeepers in general don't go for a lot of money so there will be a lot of sides looking to make a bargain move for Kelleher this summer.

However, according to the Daily Mail. Hughes will be holding out for £25m with the likes of Brentford, Leeds United, Bournemouth and West Ham all interested in his services.

Given the sheer number of Premier League clubs interested in Kelleher, there is a high chance Hughes could pull off a masterstroke here and get the full £25m asking price.

Which is going to be a brilliant piece of business from the Liverpool sporting director.

After all, Anfield Watch understands Liverpool signed Mamardashvili for only £29m from Valencia, just £4m than they could sell Kelleher for.

In that context, selling Kelleher for £25m, who is arguably a far inferior goalkeeper and two years older is a brilliant piece of business.

Hughes has basically not only founded Kelleher's replacement in the short-term in Mamardashvili but the future replacement of Alisson Becker.

This is what Liverpool have always done so well and it looks like this summer Hughes is going to be delivering one masterstroke after another.

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Long may it continue.