In 2022, after serving as Michael Edwards’ assistant sporting director for two seasons, Julian Ward took over when Edwards stepped away from the club. He notably oversaw the signings of Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez, and Cody Gakpo but left immediately following the season with widespread reports suggesting an inability to work with manager Jürgen Klopp.
In 2026, having served as technical director for two years after he returned to the club alongside Edwards—albeit with Richard Hughes arriving to be the sporting
director this time around—Ward appears set to once again take on the role of sporting director following Edwards’ second departure as well as the departure of Hughes. Or at least that’s what the reports are saying.
According to The Athletic’s David Ornstein, after considering their options—including Brentford’s Lee Dykes and Frankfurt’s Markus Krösche—it’s the man they’ve had all along who Fenway Sports Group are going to stick with for at least the season, though while Ward is now the overwhelming favourite to end up in the sporting director role it hasn’t yet been formally decided.
Hopefully whatever issues prevented Ward from working alongside Klopp don’t signal any real kind of deeper unsuitability for the role. Hopefully, too, the failures of Edwards in his second spell at the club and of Hughes as his sporting director aren’t carried over by a candidate who seems clearly to represent a continuation of the status quo rather than a change to it.
