Liverpool have reportedly targeted Johan Cruyff to replace Damien Comolli as director of football.
Comolli was sacked by the Anfield club yesterday, held culpable for a combination of the team's dismal league performance (Liverpool lie in eighth), failing to derive value from the club's transfer deals and the response to the Luis Suarez race row.
Every back page has splashed with Comolli's exit from the club, with doubts lingering over Kenny Dalglish's future as manager also, despite club owners Fenway Sports Group backing the Scot.
Comolli's departure has drawn headlines such as "SCAPEGOAT" (The Daily Mail), and his departure has seemingly had a reverse effect on Dalglish's stability at the club.
This can ostensibly be gauged by the Reds' grand plans to employ Cruyff as the 39-year-old Frenchman's replacement. Compatriot Louis van Gaal has also been touted for the directorial role.
FSG should however be wary of just how combustible each Dutchman coach can be, and how well either of the duo would collaborate with Dalglish is an obvious quandary.
The 61-year-old's legendary status at Anfield appears to have spared him the sack, with a background figure the fall guy for the club's regression, and neither Cruyff nor Van Gaal would likely tolerate such favouritism.
Cruyff, 64, and Van Gaal's egos are legendary at club hierarchies, with the former coming under fire at Ajax this season after he allegedly informed ex-Holland international Edgar Davids he was only on the club board because "he was black".
The Holland international great currently holds consultancy roles at Ajax and Chivas Guadalajara, whereas Van Gaal, 60, is a more immediate option as he is a free agent.
Like Cruyff, he boasts impressive legacies at both Ajax and Barcelona (both have won the European Cup as coaches), with his track record for developing young players as renowned as the trophies he has won.
But also similarly to Cruyff, he has been known to be difficult to work with. He resigned after returning to Ajax in 2004 after a year due to "internal conflict" while his sacking by Bayern Munich in April 2011 came after Die Roten lost third spot in the Bundesliga. He was due to leave when his contract expired at the end of the season.
William Hill odds for Liverpool's "Director of Football Strategy" on first day of the 2012/13 Premier League season:
Johan Cruyff
6/4
Louis van Gaal
5/2
Kenny Dalglish
5/1
Jurgen Klinsmann
10/1
Franco Baldini
14/1
Predrag Mijatovic
20/1
Umberto Gandini
25/1