Michael Edwards - the man who's been at the forefront of Liverpool's glory after starting out at Portsmouth

While Jurgen Klopp and his players are being lavished with constant praise as the Reds runaway with the Premier League title, Michael Edwards’ work behind the scenes has been imperative to that success.

Liverpool's sporting director has been key to assembling a star-studded squad that includes Sadio Mane, Mo Salah, Roberto Firmino,Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson for cut-prices deals.

Edwards is widely known as shrewd operator who drives a hard bargain. Without him, the Reds may not be on track for a first league title in 30 years or claimed a sixth European Cup last term.

Nor might Liverpool be in their position now had he not honed his craft at Pompey.

Edwards was the Blues’ Prozone analyst between 2003-2008, after being sent to Fratton Park by the company’s business development manager Barry McNeill.

Richard Hughes gave an insight into the impact Edwards had during his time at PO4.

He warranted respect from the Blues squad, having played for Peterborough Academy as a youngster.

In fact, if Edwards felt anyone had underperformed in the previous game then he wouldn't be afraid to give them a frank verdict.

Speaking to the Bleacher Report, Hughes said: ‘On Mondays, he used to be the first port of call for myself and a good few of the other boys.

‘We'd go into his office and have our stats read back to us on how we'd performed at the weekend.

‘He'd played football himself, so he was used to that sort of camaraderie and those exchanges of banter with footballers.

‘A lot of people in those roles come from a non-footballing background and sometimes they find fitting into the atmosphere of a football club quite difficult.

‘Michael was different because he had an opinion and he let you know it.

‘He's got a great sense of humour and he wasn't afraid to tell me or even my more illustrious team-mates that we'd been garbage at the weekend, statistically speaking.

‘He was the first person with that job description that I'd come across as a player.’

Before matches, it wasn’t boss Harry Redkndapp or his backroom staff who Hughes would approach to get an insight into the opposition.

Instead, the Scot would seeks out Edwards for impart his knowledge.

Hgughes added: ‘If I was going into a game on a Friday afternoon, I'd ask him what he could tell me about whoever I was playing against and if there was an angle he could give me to help me the next day.

‘It's probably more a question you'd ask a coach or a manager, but Michael had that respect from us. We treated him as someone whose input was not only worthwhile but desired.’

Edwards departed Pompey in 2009, following Redknapp to Tottenham after he left the Fratton Park hot seat the previous year.