Markus Krosche to Liverpool: Europe's best sporting director or agent of chaos?

Updated: 7 Sept 2026 15:46 BST | 5 min read

Markus Krosche, Omar Marmoush, Hugo Ekitike — © IMAGO

Tom Weber | Writer

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Liverpool are reportedly considering Eintracht Frankfurt sporting director Markus Krosche as a replacement for Richard Hughes.

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The latter resigned on Saturday to take charge of recruitment at Saudi giants Al-Hilal. It had been an open secret that Hughes would depart once the Premier League transfer window closed, so the fact that he was allowed to oversee Liverpool's transfers raised eyebrows.

Having joined from Bournemouth in 2024, Hughes took charge of three summer windows, and while the true impact of signings can only be measured further down the line, his legacy certainly does not appear overly positive - yet.

His decision to keep his powder dry in 2024 looked a masterstroke when the Reds marched to the Premier League title in the subsequent campaign. However, since the purse strings were loosened last year, success has been found wanting.

The record-shattering spending of the past two summers has yet to bear fruit, with Jamie Carragher going so far as to suggest that the 2025 transfer window could go down as one of the worst ever if Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak don't markedly improve this season.

Markus Krosche: From genius to failure?

According to German outlet Sport1, Frankfurt recruitment guru Krosche is one of the names Liverpool are running the rule over in their search for a replacement for Hughes.

The 45-year-old is still under contract until 2028, but a release clause allows a select few clubs to sign him for a fee in the region of €3m-€4m. Liverpool are thought to be among the clubs able to exercise his exit option.

Had things panned out slightly differently on Deadline Day, Liverpool could perhaps even have appointed him for nothing. That's because Krosche has endured a fairly dramatic fall from grace over the past year.

Once regarded as being one of the best sporting directors in European football - if not the best - the German was reportedly left scrambling to save his job on the final day of the window.

He successfully managed to do so with last-minute deals that saw Hugo Larsson join Fulham and Jean-Matteo Bahoya link up with Leeds. Both are initial loans, but with the expectation that they will become permanent next summer and raise around €50m.

This was crucial as Frankfurt's hierarchy had set Krosche a clear financial target for the summer. The Bundesliga side needed to trim the fat from their squad and find some stability after scattergun recruitment in recent windows.

Krosche ultimately achieved this objective. BILD reported that it was decided during a "crisis meeting" last Wednesday to keep the director in the job for the time being. However, there is no expectation that he will fulfil his contract.

Although senior figures, including Krosche himself, have repeatedly downplayed reports of a rift, it is believed that the transfer guru has a strained relationship with several people at the club.

Things have unravelled quite spectacularly for Frankfurt and Krosche over the past year. In 2025, the club achieved one of their best-ever Bundesliga finishes and pulled off some impressive transfers with the big-money sales of Omar Marmoush and Hugo Ekitike.

By the spring of this year, things could hardly have been bleaker. Frankfurt were in no-man's land in the Bundesliga - they would ultimately finish eighth - and two permanent managers had been axed.

Dino Toppmoller failed to build on the success of the previous season, and the Eagles were a complete mess defensively, leading to his sacking in January. However, Krosche got the appointment of a replacement spectacularly wrong when he hired former Liverpool star Albert Riera.

The Spaniard was an unmitigated disaster at Frankfurt and lost his job immediately after the final day of the season, having managed to lose the dressing room with his antics in a remarkably short period of time.

On the transfers front, Krosche also appears to have lost his Midas touch. Frankfurt have made a profit north of €330m on striker sales alone in recent years, but the 45-year-old has been unable to continue this legacy after the departures of Marmoush and Ekitike.

Elye Wahi, Michy Batshuayi, Jonathan Burkhardt, Younes Ebnoutalib and Arnaud Kalimuendo were signed or loaned to the tune of €60m, yet none have been able to come close to matching their predecessors. In fact, spending €26m on Wahi was as bad a decision as appointing Riera.

The last-minute exits of Larsson and Bahoya were also symbolic of Krosche no longer being the top dog in negotiations. He previously demanded around €60m for both players, but instead of raising €120m, he has had to make do with €50m.

16 senior players were offloaded this summer, and while it's still early days in the new season, Frankfurt seem to suffer from the same defensive vulnerabilities as last term despite investing more than €30m in new centre-backs and defensive midfielders.

They are winless in the Bundesliga so far, surrendering a 3-1 lead to draw 3-3 with Union Berlin on opening day before falling to a humiliating 4-1 home defeat to Augsburg over the weekend.

It is clear that Krosche and Frankfurt are no longer a happy marriage. The 45-year-old needs a change of scenery. Liverpool could offer him exactly that, but his recent track record suggests that it would be a gamble.