Massive: High-profile Liverpool exit to be announced shortly | OneFootball

Liverpool will confirm a high-profile exit shortly. It's their biggest of the summer and upheaval is on the way.

The transfer window is closed and Liverpool's squad is locked in until January. Is it a good squad? Time will tell on that, but it's certainly missing quite a few things on paper.

The Reds are without a defensive midfielder, have one fit striker, no right-sided wingers and only the one fit right-back. Their centre-back options are a bit of a mess, too, with only two of them confirmed to be staying beyond this season - and both of those are under 21.

Liverpool also oversaw three major exits this summer. Mohamed Salah, Andy Robertson and Ibrahima Konate all left on free transfers and two of them weren't even replaced with signings.

And now there's set to be an even bigger exit: the man who made all of the above possible. Sporting director Richard Hughes is to leave Liverpool and join Al-Hilal in the Saudi Pro League.

Now, this has been reported for some time. You can find reports on the Saudi side dating back into last year and it's now fully expected that things will be confirmed very shortly.

The Times reports that it's one of the 'worst kept secrets' in football, with an announcement to come. No timeline is given, just that it'll happen 'soon'.

It is a bombshell for Liverpool. Hughes has overseen a dramatic spend in the last two summers, with the Reds going from zero nine-figure transfers to three.

More than that, he's shipped out and restructured the squad to a massive degree. Players, primarily homegrown, have been shipped out at nearly every opportunity, leaving Liverpool up against their foreign player limit but in need of signings.

It's not a good situation. In fact, it's absolute madness and the worst is yet to come with Hughes's exit and the need to hunt for a new sporting director.

That SD may well rip everything up again, as Hughes did. Will they even want Andoni Iraola in charge? He won't be 'their' pick, after all.

It's been a ridiculous summer and the madness is set to continue. Hopefully, the exit for Hughes can be announced ASAP and we can all start the moving on process.