WFootball: LFC Director Out
 

Liverpool part company with director of football Damien Comolli

• Liverpool react to disappointing transfer policy
• Comolli instrumental in bringing Andy Carroll to Anfield


Guardian UK 12 April 2012



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Damien Comolli has left Liverpool after some of his high-profile signings failed to make the desired impact at the club. Photograph: Paul Thomas/Action Images

Liverpool's director of football Damien Comolli has left the club "by mutual consent" after the club's owner, Fenway Sports Group, decided the high-profile expensive signings – such as Andy Carroll – have not delivered value for money. Liverpool's head of sports medicine and science Peter Brukner has also left with immediate effect.

Comolli was charged with overseeing recruitment after being appointed in November 2010 and he was instrumental in the signings of the £22.8m Luis Suárez and the £35m Carroll. However the former Newcastle United striker has been considered a major disappointment at Anfield.

Comolli was also involved in bringing Jordan Henderson, Charlie Adam, Stewart Downing, José Enrique, Sebastián Coates and Craig Bellamy to the club, although the manager Kenny Dalglish had the final say on their arrivals. But the difficulties Carroll, Henderson, Adam and Downing have suffered at the club seem to have spelled the end for Comolli's stint at Anfield.

Comolli said he will now return to France for "family reasons". "I am grateful to have been given the opportunity to work at Liverpool and am happy to move on from the club and back to France for family reasons," he said. "I wish the club all the best for the future."

The club's chairman, Tom Werner, said: "We're coming close to the end of the season and the transfer window for the summer, and we felt it was important to make this change expeditiously."

However Werner believes there is still a need for a director of football at Liverpool but said there are no candidates for the job yet.

"We're still confident the structure we've discussed is the right structure," he said. "That doesn't mean we won't look at tweaking it, but we feel a collective group of people making football decisions is healthy. The debate is healthy. Part of the reason we made this decision now is because we want to start the process of finding an excellent replacement.

"We don't have any specific candidates in mind. Part of the reason we made this decision yesterday was to be in the best possible position to move forward as quickly as possible."

He added that the club still believe Dalglish is the right man to manage the club. "We've got great confidence in Kenny. We feel the team is going to make strides in the future and he enjoys our full support."

Comolli survived Roy Hodgson's reign at the club and remained in his post as Dalglish returned to manage the side. "I had a fantastic working and personal relationship with Damien since he came here," said Dalglish. "It is disappointing but I suppose there is not much in football which comes as a surprise.

"He has been really helpful in every transfer target we've gone for. Everyone who has come into the club since Damien has been here was of my choice. Once I made the choice who I wanted Damien went away and did a fantastic job of bringing them in. It is sad to see anyone leave the football club and he goes with my best wishes and hopefully it is not long before we meet again. We wish him well with everything that he does."

Liverpool's principal owner, John Henry, said: "We are grateful for all of Damien's efforts on behalf of Liverpool and wish him all the best for the future."

As well as playing a part in the signing of Carroll, Comolli contributed to the dramatic deal that took Fernando Torres to Chelsea for £50m on the same day. Earlier in his career, the 39-year-old Comolli held a similar post at Tottenham. He was heralded for securing deals for Gareth Bale, Luka Modric and Dimitar Berbatov but, much like his time at Liverpool, not all his dealings were well thought of. David Bentley and Adel Taarabt were never able to make their mark at White Hart Lane and the former Spurs manager Martin Jol was outspoken about his uneasy relationship with Comolli.