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Liverpool’s Julian Ward emerges as leading candidate to take over as sporting director with Ajax after making decision to leave Anfield at the end of the season
- Liverpool’s sporting director Julian Ward will step down at the end of the season
- Ward only assumed his role earlier this year, but is leaving for personal reasons
- He could now bet set to take up the same role with Dutch giants Ajax
Liverpool’s Julian Ward has emerged as a leading candidate to take over as sporting director with Ajax.
Ward announced in November that he was stepping down from his role with Liverpool at the end of this season.
And he is now being seriously considered by the Dutch champions to replace Marc Overmars.
Ward has only been sporting director for a season at Anfield after taking over from Mike Edwards but has overseen transfers such as Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo.
His decision to exit was unexpected and is understood to have been greeted with disappointment within the club.
Julian Ward has emerged as a leading candidate to take over as sporting director with Ajax
Liverpool are considering whether to continue with the sporting director model that was first introduced under Edwards in 2016.
Jurgen Klopp, who likes the sporting director structure and was close to both Edwards and Ward, will have a pivotal role in deciding how football operations should be run come the end of the season.
The chief executive, Billy Hogan, will also be involved in the final decision.
Ward (right) enjoys a close relationship with Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp (centre)
