Hughes confirmed at Al-Hilal as Anfield's recruitment brief waits for a name

The sporting director's move to Saudi Arabia closes a chapter that opened with his quiet exit from Anfield, and puts the next question to Liverpool: who now carries the recruitment brief he once held?

Richard Hughes has been confirmed as sporting director of Saudi Pro League club Al-Hilal, formally ending a search that opened when he stepped back from his role at Liverpool earlier this year. The appointment, announced this week, places Hughes in a post that closely mirrors the one he held at Anfield: recruitment and squad planning, in a structure modelled on the Premier League's own sporting directorate.