• Rodgers insists on appointing his own backroom team
• Swansea get go-ahead to talk to Wigan No2 Graeme Jones
Brendan Rodgers is due to be unveiled as Liverpool's manager on Friday having agreed to work within the new management structure that Fenway Sports Group has planned for Anfield.
The 39-year-old's move from Swansea City to Liverpool was unable to be ratified on Thursday as the two clubs agreed a compensation package that extended to members of Rodgers' backroom staff at the Liberty Stadium. Respective club officials then had to attend a Premier League meeting in London. Personal terms had previously been agreed between Rodgers and Liverpool and he is expected to put pen to paper on a three-year contract before taking his public bow as Kenny Dalglish's successor at Anfield on Friday morning.
Swansea have in turn been granted permission to speak to the Wigan assistant manager Graeme Jones about their vacancy. Jones was No2 to Roberto Martínez at the Liberty Stadium before following the Spaniard to Wigan in 2009.
Swansea were entitled to around £5m in compensation for Rodgers because of the three-and-a-half-year contract their former manager signed in January. Terms were also agreed for three members of the Swansea backroom team after Rodgers insisted on bringing trusted allies with him to Merseyside, illustrating that, although Liverpool's owners are overhauling the management system at Anfield, the manager selects his own staff and will not be subservient to a sporting director.
Rodgers will, however, be the lead part in a sporting director-type model at Anfield and accepted that framework during talks with John W Henry and Tom Werner, Liverpool's principal owner and chairman respectively. Damien Comolli's former duties as director of football are expected to be fragmented into three new roles and further appointments are scheduled for the coming weeks.
Liverpool's new manager will retain a say on transfers although FSG, having paid excessive fees for Andy Carroll, Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson, does not intend to allow one person to have overall control on transfer policy and fees. A new executive team, headed by Rodgers, will take on that responsibility.
FSG does not see the traditional British-style manager as the way forward for Liverpool but appears to have compromised on the authority between Rodgers and the sporting director figure. The former Watford and Reading manager's insistence on appointing his own backroom team may prompt the departure of Steve Clarke from Anfield and has also scuppered Louis van Gaal's prospects of joining Liverpool.
The Dutchman met Liverpool officials to discuss the sporting director role and also the managerial vacancy but, as talks progressed with Rodgers and Martínez, both of whom were reluctant to work with Van Gaal, FSG backed away from that appointment. Liverpool's owners considered several candidates as manager, including André Villas-Boas, before settling on Rodgers. Martínez was never offered the Liverpool job. Clarke, assistant manager to Kenny Dalglish, offered his resignation in the wake of Dalglish's sacking but that was rejected. The Scot has worked with Rodgers previously at Chelsea but tendered his resignation two weeks ago out of loyalty to Dalglish.
Rodgers is bringing his assistant Colin Pascoe, conditioning expert Glen Driscoll and chief match analyst Chris Davies with him to Anfield. He may also attempt to hijack Swansea's £6.8m deal with Hoffenheim for Gylfi Sigurdsson. Swansea agreed a club record transfer for the Iceland midfielder earlier this week but Sigurdsson has yet to sign a contract, though remain hopeful he will do so. Joe Allen, Scott Sinclair and Ashley Williams, who all excelled under Rodgers in the Premier League last season, could also be of interest to the next Liverpool manager.
The Northern Irishman is prepared to give all Liverpool players the chance to be part of his long-term plans, a policy that will extend to Joe Cole and Alberto Aquilani in the absence of any tempting offers for their permanent transfers this summer. Cole spent last season on loan at Lille while Aquilani did likewise with Milan, but did not play the required 25 games to trigger his £6.5m compulsory purchase.
"I'm waiting for Liverpool to decide the name of the new coach, then we will meet in order to understand their plans," Aquilani said on Thursday. "Only then will I be able to make the right decision. It is important that I have the opportunity to make a contribution, to be able to play well and play regularly. I need to understand whether there are conditions for an agreement that satisfies everyone."
Swansea, meanwhile, have held internal discussions over who will replace Rodgers at the Liberty Stadium, having begun to prepare for their manager's possible departure when he was linked with Tottenham Hotspur in February. Jones appears to be the leading candidate, although the Brighton manager Gus Poyet, Blackpool's Ian Holloway and Birmingham's Chris Hughton and former Denamrk international Michael Laudrup have also been linked with the vacancy.
Wigan's chairman, Dave Whelan, said of Jones: "He's worked with Roberto for a few years but I think he's up for the challenge and is a very good lad. Roberto would like him to stay – they've been a great partnership for quite a while and the first thing Roberto said was he'd miss him immensely.
"But you can't stop progress and it's unfair to say 'you can't take that job, you're under contract'. It's not fair." Read More
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