Birmingham City are in talks to appoint former Liverpool academy director Frank McParland to their football hierarchy.
The vastly-experienced McParland spent ten years at Liverpool and has also served as sporting director with the likes of Brentford, Nottingham Forest and Rangers.
He is in discussions to become Birmingham's new director of recruitment and will work alongside technical director Craig Gardner with whom he gets on well.
Gardner, at 36, is one of the youngest technical directors in football and is keen to tap into 63-year old McParland's vast network of contacts and in-depth knowledge of club structure.
The cash-strapped Championship club have some talented youngsters coming through with the likes of Jude Bellingham's brother Jobe and England U19 midfielder George Hall a transfer target for Leeds United, Everton and Liverpool but they are keen to strengthen their squad despite a limited budget and will be hoping McParland's experience can help.
McParland's last role in football was with Forest where he was appointed director of football in 2017, but he left later that year.
He was also on Newcastle United's shortlist to join the board following the Saudi-backed takeover but a deal was not finalised.
McParland joins a struggling Birmingham side who are 18th in the Championship.
The Blues host West Brom on Saturday fresh from a sensational 4-3 comeback away at Swansea City. Stoppage time goals from Lukas Jutkiewicz and Auston Trusty stole all three points for John Eustace's side.