Then operating as sporting director, Liverpool's chief executive of football has since been credited for his involvement in Liverpool's Premier League title winning campaign in 2019-20. During the summer of 2018, Edwards was instrumental in overseeing the arrivals of Alisson, Xherdan Shaqiri, Fabinho and Naby Keita, as well as Virgil van Dijk six months before.
Alisson, Fabinho and Van Dijk, in particular, went on to write themselves into Liverpool folklore by forming part of the side that went on to achieve domestic and continental success under Jurgen Klopp, winning every trophy on offer within a three-year period.
A large part of that spending spree came down to the sale of Philippe Coutinho in January 2018, with $90million (£70m/€82m) plus $5.1m (£4m/€4.7m) in add-ons being spent on Van Dijk that some month - a world-record for a center-back at the time.
Six-and-a-half years later and Van Dijk has 270 appearances, eight trophies and club captaincy to show for it. However, Liverpool would go on to break another world record that summer due to the "bonus" of still having plenty of money left over from the Coutinho sale.
In July 2018, the Reds splashed $71.2m (£55.5m/€64.7m) on Alisson Becker from Roma - a world-record fee for a goalkeeper at the time. However, unlike Liverpool's other signings, this one was particularly unique because the Brazilian was the first player Edwards had made a slight exception for prior to signing him.
Alisson Becker has developed into one of the best in the world at Liverpool
That's according to Ian Graham, who was head of research during Liverpool's most successful period of the Premier League era. In an extract from his book on the inside story of how Liverpool bought a title-winning team, via The Sunday Times, Graham reveals how Edwards made the decision to sign Alisson.
He said: "Summer 2018. Funded by the Coutinho money, we signed Alisson Becker from Roma for a world-record fee for a goalkeeper, until Chelsea smashed the record a few weeks later. Alisson is one of the few players that Eddy watched live before signing.
"He decided to do that because he freely admits he is no expert on goalkeepers. Data analysis showed that Alisson and Jan Oblak at Atletico Madrid were the best goalkeepers in Europe. Jurgen wanted a goalkeeper used to playing with his feet and that made Alisson the preferred choice."
Since signing for the Reds on a six-year-deal in the summer of 2018, which was extended for an extra three years in August 2021, Alisson has won five major trophies and made more than 260 appearances in a Liverpool shirt.
His scintillating form at club level has also helped him to claim the No.1 spot for Brazil ahead of Manchester City's Ederson, while he has become just the seventh player in Liverpool's history to achieve 100 clean sheets for the club
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