UPDATE : Who is Julian Ward, and how did he go from being a scout to becoming Liverpool’s sporting director not once, but twice?

Spirit of Shankly/Who is Julian Ward, and how did he go from being a scout to becoming Liverpool’s sporting director not once, but twice?

Who is Julian Ward, and how did he go from being a scout to becoming Liverpool’s sporting director not once, but twice?

Julian Ward joined Liverpool from Manchester City in 2012 and worked in scouting until 2015, just as he had at City, primarily covering Spain and Portugal.

In 2015, Ward was promoted to Head of Loan Management and Club Partnerships.

That job title essentially covered two separate areas.

On the loan side, his responsibilities included finding the right club for a player, liaising with the coaching, medical and analysis staff of the receiving club, and monitoring the player’s development after the move. Michael Edwards specifically praised Ward’s work in building Liverpool’s “loan department.” Some of the more successful loan spells that come to mind include Harvey Elliott, Harry Wilson, Ryan Kent and Rhian Brewster.

As for partnerships with other clubs, one example that immediately comes to mind is his role in arranging a friendly against Benfica ahead of the 2019 Champions League final. Julian called Pedro Marques, who now also plays a hugely important role at the club. Benfica then recreated Tottenham’s style of play to help Liverpool prepare for the final they eventually won.

In 2020, Ward was promoted to become Michael Edwards’ deputy and began to become more heavily involved in transfers, contract negotiations and other areas. In a way, Edwards had prepared his own successor.

During the 2021/22 season, it became known that Edwards would leave the club, and Ward was immediately identified as the leading candidate to replace him. This was by far the busiest period of his career, so it deserves a closer look.

As early as the beginning of 2022, Ward played a significant role in Liverpool’s move for Luis Díaz, who was also being pursued by Barcelona and Tottenham at the time. The original plan had been to sign him in the summer of 2022, but the interest from those clubs forced Liverpool to move quickly. Ward’s connections in Portugal played a role, while Jürgen Klopp ultimately convinced the player to join Liverpool.

During the first half of 2022, Liverpool also secured new contracts for Klopp, Mohamed Salah and Diogo Jota. In Klopp’s case, Mike Gordon was still the leading figure in the negotiations, with Ward playing an active supporting role. The contract extensions for Salah and Jota, however, were largely Ward’s work.

The signings of Darwin Nunez, Calvin Ramsay and Fabio Carvalho, as well as Arthur’s loan move that summer, were all handled by Ward. The same goes for Liverpool’s January hijack of Cody Gakpo from Manchester United — reports suggested that Ward spent the entire Christmas period negotiating over Gakpo.

However, Ward’s time as sporting director was relatively short-lived: he left the club in the summer of 2023.

The shortlists for the summer of 2023 had already been drawn up under Ward during the winter and spring, and work had also begun on laying the groundwork for deals involving the players Liverpool were interested in that summer.

Finally, Julian helped set up the Alexis Mac Allister transfer. Alexis joined Liverpool for just £35 million, while his club and international teammates, Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez respectively, were breaking transfer records. Interestingly, Ward’s connections dating back to 2013, when Philippe Coutinho joined Liverpool, also played a role in the Mac Allister deal.

In 2024, Ward returned alongside Edwards. He was appointed FSG’s Technical Director of Football.

His responsibilities included overseeing Liverpool’s academy, developing a strategy for elite-player development, and establishing FSG’s new Football Innovation Department.