Penguin Books to Liverpool - Richard Hughes' Love Affair with Serie A Talent

For some time now, Richard Hughes has been considered to be one of the best sporting directors in the Premier League, and despite his in activity last summer, has now won the league title in his first year at Liverpool. For some reason, Hughes seems to hold the Serie A in really high esteem, signing quite a few players for that league in his time at both Bournemouth and Liverpool, so why is that?

Who Has He Signed?

It took the Cherries quite some time to be able to afford Serie A players, but when they got new owners in 2022, Hughes was finally able to put his own mark on the squad. In January of 2023, Bournemouth signed both Hamed Traore and Matias Vina on loan, with Traore joining permanently in the summer. He had been playing for Sassuolo in the Serie A, while Vina had fallen out of favour at Roma and was looking for a move away.

The following summer, with Andoni Iraola in charge, Hughes once again looked to Italy, signing Justin Kluivert for less than £10m from Roma and Inout Radu, a goalkeeper, on loan from Inter Milan. Kluivert became an important part of Iraola’s squad, the first Serie A signing to do so, and helped Bournemouth to two consecutive record points tallies in the Premier League.

WHAT. A. TEAM. 😍

48 points, our NEW @premierleague record points tally 😤 pic.twitter.com/FoJqRxlUei

— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) April 28, 2024

After the conclusion of the 2023/24 season, Hughes moved on, joining Liverpool in a similar role. His Italian connections were still prevalent in Bournemouth as they signed Dean Huijsen from Juventus that summer. The young centre-back has already earned himself another move, this time joining Real Madrid for £50m. Hughes meanwhile made one signing last summer, securing the signature of Federico Chiesa from Juventus. Before he joined, Liverpool’s last permanent signing from the Serie A was Alisson back in 2018. If Liverpool fans want a look into the future signings of their club, look no further than Italy.

Why Does He Have Connections To Italy?

It’s not often you look at a sporting director and think, ‘why do you sign so many players from this league?’ but on this occasion, the answer is very interesting. Some football fans might remember Richard Hughes’ playing days in the Premier League with Portsmouth. He was a part of the team that won the FA Cup in 2008, and even won five caps for Scotland at his peak. The majority of his career was spent on the south coast, with nine years at Pompey and six at Bournemouth.

He was born in Scotland to a Scottish family, however his parents both lived and worked in Italy. His mother travelled back to the UK just to give birth before heading back to the South of Europe. Hughes’ father worked for the publisher Penguin Books in Milan, publishing English language books in an Italian market. Hughes attended an English language school in the country, speaking his native tongue at home and at school, but switching to Italian when with friends.

#LiverpoolFC’s new Sporting Director Richard Hughes was born in Scotland, but grew up in Milan and played in the #Atalanta academy from ages of 11 to 18 pic.twitter.com/jki2hdsJTk

— Calcio England (@CalcioEngland) March 20, 2024

His footballing career also started in Italy. At the age of 10 he was scouted by AC Milan and was invited to sign with them, however he turned them down. A year later he joined the Atalanta youth system playing with them for seven years before being scouted by Arsenal. He never made it with the Gunners, instead joining Bournemouth at the age of 19 where he made his first senior start. The majority of his development as a player came in Italy, and he likely saw the country as his home, having spent his entire childhood there.

Despite spending his entire senior career in England, he still has his Italian connections, and being able to speak the language fluently certainly helps welcoming potential signings to his club. The Serie A has returned in recent years to be a real hot bed for European talent. Between 2000 and 2010 it was one of the best leagues in the world, but scandals and financial issues saw it fall off slightly. Recently, the likes of AC Milan, Inter Milan and Napoli have rebuilt the importance of the league, and many young talents have since been sold for big money. Riccardo Calafiori, Rasmus Hojlund, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Sandro Tonali have all left Italy for huge sums of money in recent years, showing how much talent there is now in that league.

What Does The Future Look Like For Liverpool and Hughes?

Liverpool are eyeing up a few transfer targets this summer, however as of right now, there aren’t many Serie A players on their radar. Of course the sporting director isn’t the only person who has a say in the club’s transfers, so many could be of Arne Slot’s liking. Also, Richard Hughes didn’t exclusively sign from the Serie A when he was with Bournemouth. In fact they had a particular liking for the Eredivisie too, signing both Milos Kerkez and Marcos Senesi from the Dutch league within two seasons. Kerkez was a high profile youngster with AC Milan in the Serie A before he joined AZ Alkmaar, so Hughes likely kept tabs on him throughout his development both in Italy and in the Netherlands.

Bournemouth announce signing of centre-back Marcos Senesi from Feyenoord for an undisclosed fee. 🍒✅ #afcb pic.twitter.com/KglS8KSmJb

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 8, 2022

The most recent rumour regarding a Serie A player has been their interest in Juventus full back Nicolo Savona. The 22-year-old has only broken into the Juventus first team this season, playing roughly half of the available minutes, scoring twice from such a defensive position. Liverpool will be in the market for a new right back this summer, with Trent Alexander-Arnold joining Huijsen at Real Madrid, and Savona is a very typical signing for Hughes. They have also been linked with the man who plays ahead of him in the Juventus team, Andrea Cambiaso. The Italian full-back has been at the club since 2022 but looks set to leave in the summer. Both Liverpool and Manchester City have shown interest in him, but neither have made an approach.