Ex-Middlesbrough winger Stewart Downing has joined Liverpool’s scouting and recruitment team.
Downing, who spent the majority of his career at hometown club Middlesbrough, made 91 appearances for Liverpool during a two-year stint at Anfield.
And now the 40-year-old has taken up a new role as a global talent scout for the newly-crowned Premier League champions.
Downing ventured into coaching with Middlesbrough shortly after hanging up his boots in 2021 before moving onto Leeds United as an assistant manager for the club’s U21 team. He has also tried his hand in punditry.
But scouting is Downing’s true calling with the Boro legend having spent recent months preparing for his new role.
Downing has maintained good relations with the Merseyside club from his playing where he won the League Cup in 2011.
Liverpool’s remit for their global talent scouts is to ‘use experience and knowledge to accurately showcase high potential players to global talent staff’ and ‘extend our reach to support the quick identification of high profile players from around the world’.
Downing’s wealth of experience will serve as an asset to Liverpool in their quest to identify the club’s stars of the future.
Downing joins former Reds stars Jay Spearing, Jon Newby and Michael Thomas who also work behind the scenes at Anfield.
Ron Jones and Steve McManaman are also part of the staff team at Liverpool as part-time mentors.
The Boro legend fondly remembers his time at Anfield after completing a £20million switch from Aston Villa.
“I had a great time there,” said Downing previously, looking back on his time at Liverpool, who he joined from Aston Villa.
“It was a move I’d always wanted to do – play for a club like Liverpool. When the chance I came, I jumped at it.
“I was having a good time at Villa and it was a good club, but I think Liverpool is Liverpool and I wanted to make that move.”
After his two-year stint at Liverpool, Downing returned to Middlesbrough in 2015 and helped fire them to promotion.
He clocked up over 400 appearances for the club before leaving for Blackburn Rovers in 2019.
At international level, Downing earned 35 caps for England and was part of the Three Lions squad at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
