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Liverpool are set to appoint Laurie Shaw as their new chief scientist when his gardening leave from the City Football Group ends.
In a move that is being viewed inside the club as a major coup in the field of football data, Shaw will work under director of research Will Spearman as the Reds look to plan for the future, potentially as Premier League champions.
Shaw had been the director of football data at the City Football Group (CFG) - who own Manchester City, La Liga outfit Girona and MLS side New York City among others - but has been awaiting his next challenge since January and the Reds have swooped to add him to the research department at the AXA Training Centre.
It's unclear when the former City operative will begin his role but the ECHO understands the position is specific to Liverpool FC as they continue to reshape an area of the club that has long been the envy of football in data circles.
Shaw had been at CFG since 2021 but had previously worked for a £30billion hedge fund while also acting as a policy advisor to the British government. He holds a PhD in Astrophysics from Cambridge University, and an Msci from Imperial College, London.
The move, which comes as FSG's CEO of football Michael Edwards continues to explore the merits of the multi-club model to add to the Americans owners' portfolio of sports teams, is
viewed as a way of keeping Liverpool at the cutting edge of the latest trends and developments in football.
Liverpool's data-driven model has been instrumental to the success of recent years, particularly in the transfer market, where it helped unearth value in players like Andy Robertson, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah, among others.
The department was headed up by Dr Ian Graham between 2018 and 2022 when the club won every top-level trophy available before the Welshman was replaced by Dr Spearman, who was promoted to the position at the start of the 2022/23 campaign.
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Athletic reporting slightly differently, involvement wise.
Shaw was placed on gardening leave in January and is expected to begin his role at FSG in the coming weeks.
www.nytimes.com
Laurie Shaw will take up a role with Liverpool owner Fenway Sports Group (FSG) after leaving his role as director of football data at City Football Group (CFG).
Shaw was placed on gardening leave in January and is expected to begin his role at FSG in the coming weeks.
His role at FSG will see him work across multiple sports, with the American group having stakes in the Boston Red Sox of the MLB, the Pittsburgh Penguins of the NHL, Boston Common Golf of The Golf League and RFK Racing in NASCAR.
Shaw
joined CFG, the multi-club model which owns teams including Manchester City, New York City FC and Melbourne City,
in 2021.
The
former Harvard research scientist and lecturer left his role at the American university to
join the group’s data insights and decision technology team. He initially joined as CFG’s head of AI, before being appointed director of football data in September 2023.