Michael Edwards has agreed to return to Liverpool in a senior role at owners Fenway Sports Group where he will head up football operations, with his first task likely to be appointing sporting director Richard Hughes.
Edwards initially turned down an approach to return to the club after two years when FSG chief Mike Gordon asked him to head up a restructure following the exit of manager Jurgen Klopp.
But Liverpool did not give up and made a second, final play to tempt Edwards to return to the club.
The two parties held constructive talks in Boston a fortnight ago, with principal owner John W Henry also present and influential.
Edwards finally agreed to return to the club on Monday - in a more senior role. He made it clear he would not return in his previous position of sporting director.
But it appears that job will be filled by 44-year-old Hughes, as Mail Sport reported on Thursday. Hughes confirmed his departure from Bournemouth last week.
The pair are good friends from time spent at Portsmouth, when Hughes was a player and Edwards a rookie data analyst.
Edwards spent 10 years at Liverpool from 2012 and has been lauded as one of the most influential figures alongside Klopp in the club's recent glory decade.
He played a key role in the signings of the likes of Mo Salah, Alisson and Virgil Van Dijk.
Once Hughes arrives, the pair will move to appoint Klopp's successor. Xabi Alonso remains the front-runner but Sporting's Ruben Amorim is also high on the list.
Roberto De Zerbi has also been mentioned alongside Julian Nagelsmann.
Hughes is multi-lingual and is said to know 'everyone in football'. He has dealt with Edwards in transfer dealings before when bringing the likes of Dominic Solanke and Jordon Ibe to Bournemouth from Liverpool.
