Manchester United and Chelsea want to hire ex-Liverpool sporting director Michael Edwards - Reports

Manchester United and Chelsea are reportedly interested in former Liverpool sporting director Michael Edwards. He has been the man behind some of the Reds' top transfers recently, securing deals for Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, among others.

The English transfer guru departed the Reds last season after 11 long years. His impressive behind-the-scenes work with manager Jurgen Klopp has earned him huge praise and has caught the attention of many top clubs.

The Daily Mail has reported that United and Chelsea are interested in Edwards to help bolster their respective player recruitments.

United's recruitment is currently fronted by football director John Murtough, and theres' a new structure in place at Old Trafford. Chief scouts Jim Lawlor and Marcel Bout have both left the club, while chief negotiator Matt Judge is leaving the Red Devils shortly (per The Athletic).

It remains to be seen whether Edwards will accept a role with United, given his ties to their fierce rivals Liverpool. Manchester United also admire Brentford's director of recruitment Lee Dykes, who has pulled off many astute deals, namely Ivan Toney and Vitaly Janelt, among others.

Middlesbrough's head of football Kieran Scott is another name reportedly being considered by United.

Meanwhile, Chelsea are under new ownership, under a consortium led by Tedd Boehly.

The Stamford Bridge side's long-serving director Marina Granovskaia has left the west London club, and the Blues are interested in Edwards replacing her. Granovskaia oversaw some questionable deals in recent windows, none more so than Romelu Lukaku for £97.8 million. The Belgian has returned to Inter Milan on loan.

The former sporting director did negotiate the sales of players, having sold Eden Hazard to Real Madrid for £103.5 million in 2019.

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Manchester United and Chelsea's interest in former Liverpool director Michael Edwards is merited

Michael Edwards drove a hard bargain over Coutinho.

Michael Edwards' work in the transfer market is acclaimed. However, it's not just the signings of top talent such as Alisson Becker, Andy Robertson and Thiago Alcantara that's impressive. His work in offloading players for astronimical fees is astounding, particularly his negotiations with Barcelona in 2018 that saw Liverpool make a huge profit.

United and Chelsea have had issues in selling players in the past, with many of their current squad still on the cards despite rarely featuring. Names such as Eric Bailly, Kenedy, Phil Jones and Danny Drinkwater come to mind.

Edwards has the credentials to help both teams in their rebuilds, and he could flourish working alongside either Erik ten Hag or Thomas Tuchel.