ONE TOUCH SUMMARY
- Richard Hughes has been confirmed as Al-Hilal sporting director after leaving Liverpool, the Saudi Pro League leaders said.
- Hughes joined Liverpool in 2024 from Bournemouth and appointed Arne Slot, who won the 2024-25 Premier League title.
- Liverpool recruitment staff Mark Burchill and Craig McKee are poised to follow Hughes to Al-Hilal.
ONE TOUCH INSIGHT
Al-Hilal haven't hired a sporting director, they've bought a department. Mark Burchill and Craig McKee — the recruitment pair who moved with Hughes from Bournemouth to Liverpool in 2024 — are following him to Riyadh, and that, not the job title, is the story.
Hughes' Liverpool record reads clean on one line and badly on the next. He picked Arne Slot to succeed Klopp and got a Premier League title in 2024-25 out of it. By June, Slot was sacked and Andoni Iraola was in. Read that as one good call or a succession that collapsed anyway; Al-Hilal are paying for the process, not the outcome.
The pattern holds. Martinelli, Summerville and Watkins all arrived this summer, and Simone Inzaghi, formerly of Inter, manages. Now the back office gets its Premier League infusion, and the Bournemouth-to-Anfield pipeline becomes the Riyadh one.
Burchill and McKee's contracts are the detail to track. Get them signed and Al-Hilal have rebuilt a working recruitment unit inside a month; leave them at Anfield and Hughes is a figurehead with a title.
WHY IT MATTERS
Hughes's move shows Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Hilal are buying English football's back-room expertise, not just its players, escalating the league's challenge to the Premier League's talent pipeline.
TACTICAL FIT
At Al-Hilal, Hughes will build the sporting structure around manager Simone Inzaghi, and with Burchill and McKee poised to follow, he gets a trusted recruitment team to replicate Liverpool's title-winning model in Riyadh.
THE DEBATE
Should Liverpool fans worry Saudi clubs are poaching their recruitment brains?
Reuters and Guardian sport
Sun 6 Sep 2026 17.15 EDT Last modified on Sun 6 Sep 2026 17.26 EDT
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Richard Hughes has been appointed as the sporting director of Al-Hilal, the Saudi Pro League club confirmed on Sunday, following his departure from Liverpool.
Hughes, 47, joined Liverpool in 2024 from Bournemouth. He appointed Arne Slot as Jürgen Klopp’s successor as head coach, a decision that paid immediate dividends as the Reds claimed the Premier League title in 2024-25. Slot was sacked and replaced by Andoni Iraola in June.
Liverpool look for new sporting director after Richard Hughes formally leaves Read more
“The appointment of Hughes came as part of Al-Hilal’s efforts to strengthen its football system and develop its sporting structure with specialised expertise,” the Saudi Pro League leaders said in a statement.
The appointment highlights Al-Hilal’s drive to tap into English football, with Hughes the latest former Premier League figure to join the Riyadh-based club. Hughes follows players Gabriel Martinelli, Crysencio Summerville and Ollie Watkins, who joined the Saudi club this summer from Arsenal, West Ham United and Aston Villa, respectively. Al-Hilal’s manager is Simone Inzaghi, formerly of Inter.
Two members of Liverpool’s recruitment department are set to follow Hughes to Al Hilal. Mark Burchill and Craig McKee, who joined Liverpool from Bournemouth with Hughes two years ago, are now poised to team up with the Scot in Saudi.
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