It's all change this summer at Liverpool, starting with the emotional exit of Jurgen Klopp alongside his backroom staff, which includes assistant manager Pep Lijnders. Meanwhile, the Reds will also be forced to search for a new sporting director once again, having been forced to do so last summer, following Jorg Schmadtke's departure.
Ahead of some vital decisions, the Reds have now heards the thoughts of one of their potential replacements in the roles away from the pitch.
Liverpool's next sporting director
When you think of Liverpool sporting directors, the name Michael Edwards instantly springs to mind. Edwards was a central part of the rebuild that took place at Anfield, producing genius transfers which helped shaped Klopp's historic run. The responsibility then fell the way of Julian Ward, who always had an impossible task when attempting to replicate the work of Edwards.
Following Ward, Schmadtke was handed the role on a short-term basis last summer, overseeing Liverpool's midfield evolution, welcoming Wataru Endo, Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch. The German can consider his short spell a great success, with the Reds back at the summit of English football after a disastrous campaign last time out. But now, the search for another sporting director is on once again.
One name linked so far has been West Ham United's Tim Steidten, who has since publicly reacted to the rumours, via Sky Sports reporter Florian Plettenberg. Steidten has been West Ham's technical director since last summer and previously had experience in the Bundesliga with both Bayer Leverkusen and Werder Bremen, perhaps making him an ideal candidate for those at Anfield.
Steidten's West Ham success
The 44-year-old was instantly thrown into the deep end at the London Stadium, with Declan Rice's big-money departure creating pressure to get deals done and the right ones, at that. Now months later, it looks as though Steidten and all involved got things fairly spot on, given the names that they welcomed in the summer window.
Mohammed Kudus
€43m (£38m)
Edson Alvarez
€38m (£32m)
James Ward-Prowse
€35m (£30m)
Konstantinos Mavropanos
€20m (£17m)
Andy Irving
€2m (£2m)
Kudus has been particularly successful and with Salah's current Liverpool contract set to expire in the summer of 2025, Steidten's West Ham link could provide the Reds with a major boost should they look towards Kudus to replace the Egyptian. Kudus' stats – 13 goals and three assists in all competitions – certainly show promise.
Whoever does come in to replace Schmadtke this summer has been left in a solid position, rather than being handed a complicated task. Klopp, Schmadtke and others already began the formation of Liverpool 2.0 last year, meaning that Steidten or potentially another option would just have to pick up where they left off.