After a long period of stability, change (and rapid change at that) seems to now be the name of the game for Liverpool following FSG’s confirmation that they are looking to invite investment opportunities for the club.
Julian Ward is thought to have been a casualty, partly due to the news in question, and his planned exit from the side in May has already hit Jurgen Klopp hard with the German reportedly attempting to convince his sporting director to stay put.
“Klopp, GOAL has been told, was among those who tried to convince Ward to stay, and it will be interesting now to see how Liverpool move forward, and specifically whether the manager will assume even greater responsibility in terms of the club’s recruitment and retention strategy,” Neil Jones wrote for GOAL.
Having played such an integral role in shaping our transfer policy and efforts in recent years, there’s no questioning that this is a blow.
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Amid seismic change behind the scenes, however, it doesn’t need to be a fatal one and, as already highlighted by the Echo, it could inspire a new way of thinking to catapult Liverpool into, or close to, the stratosphere occupied by clubs like Manchester City.
Financially speaking, new ownership could completely transform our approach in transfer windows; the operative word being ‘could’ in that scenario.
Of course, there is a downside to increased involvement on the manager’s part, as much as we trust his judgement, our efforts in the market have been so successful because of the team behind the German.
The 55-year-old has targets he clearly likes, with the acquisition of Darwin Nunez a perfect example of the right balance of blend between manager and recruitment team but his reaction to news of Ward’s exit clearly demonstrates his understanding of the importance of a sporting director.
As such, it will be fascinating to observe to what gets ditched in the evaluation over our current operating model.
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