With Jorg Schmadtke’s appointment at Liverpool now confirmed, Julian Ward’s tenure as the Reds’ sporting director is nearly over.
The German will officially start work on June 1 as Ward steps aside, having caught club bosses off-guard when handing in his notice last November. He had, after all, only officially replaced Michael Edwards as sporting director the previous summer.
As a result, Ward has only directly overseen two transfer windows at Anfield, though he would lead Liverpool’s efforts in January 2022 ahead of replacing Edwards the following summer.
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Meanwhile, while club bosses were keen to appoint Schmadtke before the opening of the window for Premier League clubs on June 14 in order to aid the handover from their departing sporting director, the already-completed groundwork on the Reds’ forthcoming business ensures that anyone signed in the summer will still be credited as being a 'Ward signing.
Departing Liverpool after 11 years at the club, Ward is partly stepping down in order to spend more time with his young family. FSG president Mike Gordon would reference as much in the club’s statement confirming Schmadtke’s appointment.
“At the same time as we welcome Jorg, we must also bid a fond farewell to Julian Ward, who has served us with unstinting diligence, fortitude and energy in a number of roles, the most recent one being sporting director,” he said.
“We wish Julian and his young family the very best for the future and thank him for everything he has done for Liverpool FC during the past 11 years.”
When Edwards announced his own exit in November 2021, he said of Ward: “As was the case with myself, I doubt you will hear much from him.”
He wasn’t wrong. Yet unlike Edwards, Ward’s lack of longevity as Liverpool sporting director means his work can’t speak for itself.
So, despite his tenure as sporting director being a brief one, what is Ward’s Anfield legacy and how will it be looked back on in years gone by? In truth, the answer is a mixed one.
On one hand, you can argue that last year’s summer transfer window was not particularly successful.
The jury remains out on Darwin Nunez following his £64m move from Benfica, which could rise to a club-record £85m with add-ons. The Uruguayan would return 15 goals and four assists from his first season on Merseyside, which, despite criticism and mockery from opposing fans, is more than respectable.
However, Jurgen Klopp has bemoaned the 23-year-old’s struggles with learning English, and in turn his struggles understanding and adapting to the German’s demands, which contributed to his sidelining towards the end of the season. Meanwhile, the striker would also suffer with a number of niggling injuries throughout the campaign.
Despite his first season at Anfield being far from plain sailing, Nunez is still already a firm fan-favourite. As a result, supporters are more than willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Yet his ups and downs alongside the records of Liverpool’s other summer signings also opens the door to further scrutiny.
Fabio Carvalho would barely feature for the Reds during the second half of the season, registering just nine minutes of first team action during the final four months of the campaign. Available on loan this summer, the Portuguese looks certain to spend next season away from Anfield, while Liverpool have already rejected one permanent bid for his services. The 20-year-old’s long-term future remains uncertain as a result.
Meanwhile, Calvin Ramsay also found game-time hard to come by in his own maiden first year on Merseyside, with the Scotland international limited to just two appearances in a campaign wrecked by injury. His unavailability and inexperience was even more unfortunate in juxtaposition to Trent Alexander-Arnold suffering the worst form of his career.
And then there’s Arthur Melo, a desperate loan signing brought in from Juventus on summer transfer deadline day last August after a number of Liverpool’s midfielders had been struck down by injury. Struck down by injury himself in October, he would fail to ever make a Premier League appearance with a 13-minute Champions League outing in the 4-1 loss to Napoli in September his sole contribution to the Reds’ cause.
The fact that Liverpool had spent all summer insisting they didn’t need a new midfielder, with such a revamp on hold until 2023, before being forced to u-turn in such a way made his arrival an even more bitter pill to swallow. And that’s without even considering the Reds’ decision to walk away from the race to sign Jude Bellingham, having not strengthened their engine-room last year in order to wait it out for the Borussia Dortmund man.
Such decisions were understandably scrutinised by last onlookers last year, but club bosses insisted there was a method in the madness. With Edwards leaving behind a clear strategy for Ward and the club’s footballing operations team to follow, Reds sources would describe it as the outgoing sporting director’s legacy.
Liverpool’s team behind the scenes were said to have a clear vision behind the scenes as a result, and, for better or worse, a plan on how to deliver it. Meanwhile, club sources would admit that results would ultimately dictate whether such a strategy was right or not.
Given the fact that the Reds suffered premature exits from the Champions League and both domestic cup competitions, while also missing out on qualification for Europe’s elite competition next year by finishing fifth, having never even occupied a top four spot during the season, tells its own story. Some comedown from nearly winning an unprecedented quadruple 12 months earlier, results this year ultimately suggest that such a strategy was not a success.
As Mohamed Salah conceded on social media once it was mathematically impossible for Liverpool to qualify for next season’s Champions League, the Reds have failed.
Yet, that doesn’t mean Ward’s tenure has been a failure. Arthur might have been an 11th hour flop, forced upon Liverpool by unwanted circumstances, but it’s far too early to judge the Reds’ other three signings one way or the other.
It has been a challenging first campaign at Anfield for Nunez, Carvalho, and Ramsay for a variety of reasons. But even if the latter two spend next season out on loan, there is nothing stopping all three from still being long-term successes. The phrase ‘long-term project’ has repeatedly been used by Klopp, after all.
And while Liverpool’s 2022 summer window can be judged harshly, there can be no disputing the success of Ward’s unenviable job of revamping the Reds’ ageing attack.
For so long, Salah, Sadio Mane, and Roberto Firmino were untouchable as Liverpool’s first-choice attack. Yet the Reds will go into the 2023/24 season with only the Egyptian remaining at Anfield.
In Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo, they have seemingly found the perfect replacements for both the Senegalese and the Brazilian. While Nunez might be judged more harshly in juxtaposition to his fellow summer arrivals, it is a different story when placed alongside the major attacking signings brought in in successive Januarys.
When you also consider Ward helped retain Salah’s services on a new contract, while tying down Diogo Jota on an extended deal, and the future of Liverpool’s attack looks bright. The signs so far suggest Ward delivered what supporters previously considered the near-impossible.
Now the hope is his fingerprints on this forthcoming summer business revamping the midfield prove to be equally successful.
So, he departs with his record standing at an initial £150.9m spent on Diaz, Nunez, Ramsay, Carvalho, Arthur, and Gakpo, rising to £196.1m, while helping the club bank up to £62m for Sadio Mane, Takumi Minamino, Neco Williams, and Ben Davies. Even if Carvalho or Ramsay don't make the long-term grade at Anfield, you would expect the club to still pocket a profit.
Liverpool added no new major silverware during Ward’s official reign as sporting director, while the jury does remains out on the Reds’ transfer business from last summer. Yet, given the long-term nature of such activity, on-pitch results aren't yet able dictate his success.
When the time comes to really judge his handiwork, he will have long since vacated his Anfield role. As a result, despite this year’s failings, his Liverpool legacy is still to be written.
Ward will ultimately no longer be on the club’s books when Klopp’s new-look Reds side truly takes shape. But make no mistake, Ward played a prominent role in building this next-generation Liverpool before swiftly passing on the baton before any plaudits could fall his way.
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