Richard Hughes agrees genius £52m transfer | OneFootball

Richard Hughes has agreed a genius transfer for Liverpool worth £52m.

Let's be honest the club's sporting director gets a lot of unfair criticism. Hughes is in the business of not the short-term but the long-term success of the club.

He's only had two summer windows to rebuild Liverpool, and the second one was when his work really began.

Last summer Hughes oversaw one of the most expensive rebuilds in Liverpool’s history.

Liverpool broke their transfer record twice to sign high-profile players such as Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak. They spent over £450m and naturally there was an expectation that they would go onto dominate the Premier League.

Yet despite that mega spending, the performances have been anything but exciting this season. Many of the players Hughes recruited have taken their time to settle.

But this was always going to be the case. Hughes signed young players with a long-term vision rather than just for this season alone.

His rebuild isn't even finished yet. Liverpool's squad is completely imbalanced right now and there will be even more money being spent this summer.

It's going to be a true test for Hughes and his ability as a sporting director to see whether he can still attract the same level of players after a disappointing campaign.

Liverpool will want to strengthen further. But they will not be negotiating from a position of strength. Unless a miracle happens and Arne Slot's side win the Champions League.

Nonetheless, last summer Hughes showed that he is capable of getting what he wants, and he is also capable of striking brilliant deals for Liverpool.

Wirtz was a genius deal. Hugo Ekitike was yet another masterstroke. Not to mention signing Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong and getting the best forward in the Premier League in Isak.

He also struck another genius deal worth £52m.

When he sold Jarell Quansah, Hughes was smart enough to agree a release clause with Bayer Leverkusen.

Now a lot of sites have been claiming that Liverpool's proposed release clause to trigger Quansah's return from Leverkusen only becomes active next summer.

However, Ben Jacobs writing for Givemesport has clarified and claimed Liverpool can activate the release clause worth £52m this summer as well.

This is only if they wish, and Jacobs reiterates that the Reds have no plans to do so at this stage. But the release clause remains active for them in 2027 and beyond as well.

£52m for a proven player of Quansah's ability, who will also likely be part of England's World Cup squad is a bargain.

In this day and age and market, Hughes struck a genius transfer agreement with the German side. It's one that we can easily see Liverpool triggering.

And it's all thanks to Hughes, who saw the bigger picture.