Liverpool appoint Damien Comolli as director of football
37-year-old Frenchman steps in to assist Roy Hodgson
Liverpool have reportedly appointed former Tottenham Hotspur director of football Damien Comolli to take over the role at Anfield.
Comolli was made DoF at Spurs as a replacement for Chelsea-bound Frank Arnesen back in 2005, but was hounded out of the club along with Juande Ramos two years ago after being seen as at fault for many of relegation-threatened club’s misfiring signings.
However, with hindsight Comolli’s transfer strategy has arguably been vindicated. 13 of his 27 signings are still at the club – including Gareth Bale, Luka Modric and Heurelho Gomes. Meanwhile, departed players like Darren Bent and Dimitar Berbatov are thriving at their new teams.
The continental-style director of football position has always been a controversial one in English football, but it’s unlikely to jar with a well-traveled manager like Roy Hogdson.
What remains to be seen is whether Comolli will be able to work his magic for Liverpool in a more timely fashion than he did at Spurs.
Liverpool fans – happy?
Damien Comolli’s Tottenham signings:
1. Vedran Corluka, Manchester City, £8.5m2. Roman Pavlyuchenko, Spartak Moscow, £14m 3. Cesar Sanchez, Real Zaragoza, Undisclosed 4. David Bentley, Blackburn Rovers, £15m-17m 5. Heurelho Gomes, PSV Eindhoven, £9m 6. Giovani dos Santos, Barcelona, £4.7m 7. Luka Modric, Dinamo Zagreb, £15.8m 8. Gilberto, Hertha Berlin £1.9m 9. Alan Hutton, Glasgow Rangers, £8m 10. Jonathan Woodgate, Middlesbrough, £7.5m 11. Chris Gunter, Cardiff City, £2m 12. Kevin-Prince Boateng, Hertha Berlin, £5.2m 13. Danny Rose, Leeds United, Undisclosed 14. Younes Kaboul, Auxerre, £8.2m 15. Darren Bent, Charlton Athletic, £16.5m 16. Adel Taarabt, RC Lens, Undisclosed 17. Gareth Bale, Southampton, £5m – £10m 18. Ben Alnwick, Sunderland, Undisclosed 19. Ricardo Rocha, Benfica, £3,5m 20. Mido, AS Roma, £4m 21. Pascal Chimbonda, Wigan Athletic, £4m 22. Steed Malbranque, Fulham, £3.5m 23. Didier Zokora, St Etienne, £6.5m 24. Benoit Assou-Ekotto, RC Lens, £3.5m 25. Dimitar Berbatov, Bayer Leverkusen, £10.9m 26. Hossam Ghaly, Feyernoord, Undisclosed 27. Danny Murphy, Charlton, £2m
[List via Footballfancast.com]
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