Liverpool poach key data director after role for Man City

Liverpool are set to appoint a key analytical brain who has recently left his role at Man City‘s City Football Group.

A report from The Athletic explained that Laurie Shaw will be taking up a role for FSG after leaving his position as director of football data at City Football Group.

This Is Anfield understands Shaw, who is in his own words “an astrophysicist by training,” will be appointed directly in a role for Liverpool as the club’s chief scientist.

Shaw arrives with a highly impressive CV, having joined the City Football Group, which oversees clubs including Man City, New York City FC and Melbourne City, in 2021 and being promoted as director of football data in September 2023.

That saw him lead the data engineering and data science teams for all their football clubs, having involvement in player recruitment and performance analysis.

Liverpool’s data-driven approach is fundamental to their operations, and Michael Edwards is back at the heart of it in his role as chief executive of football for FSG.

That came with a major restructure of the club’s off-field staff, notably with the return of Julian Ward within FSG, the appointment of Richard Hughes as Liverpool’s sporting director and the promotion of William Spearman as director of research.

Shaw was previously a former Harvard research scientist and lecturer before he joined the City Group, and he has also worked as a policy advisor for the British Government.

His resume also includes a PhD in Astrophysics from Cambridge University, and a Master in Science from Imperial College.