David Ornstein has revealed that the process to find a replacement for Julian Ward is underway at Liverpool but explained that AS Monaco sporting director Paul Mitchell will not be heading to Anfield despite being ‘strongly considered’ by the club.
It was announced in November that Ward, who only replaced Michael Edwards as sporting director in the summer, would be moving on from Anfield at the end of the current campaign.
The 41-year-old was chiefly responsible for the signings of Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez as well as overseeing the contract negations for Mo Salah’s new deal at Anfield.
“The process to replace Ward as sporting director is now underway,” Ornstein told NBC Sports (via Football Fancast). “It’s in its early stages. They did strongly consider Paul Mitchell of AS Monaco but that won’t be happening, he’s going to be staying there.
“Among the other candidates or names they admire is Marcus Krosche from Eintracht Frankfurt, but there are going to be a number of options, and let’s see how that develops because this is a critical time for Liverpool and FSG.”
The aforementioned Mitchell was previously labelled as ‘one of the frontrunners’ to replace Ward on Merseyside and was even spotted at Anfield prior to the World Cup in Qatar.
It now appears, however, that he will be remaining with the Ligue 1 outfit.
Liverpool have been praised in recent years for the impressive business they’ve completed in the transfer market and the hope is that we can find someone who can build on the foundations laid by their predecessors.
With Klopp’s side struggling for consistency this season it’s believed that the club will be active in the summer transfer window and we need to make sure that the business we complete is successful.
When you take into account that FSG are still willing to listen to offers regarding further investment at Anfield, it’s a somewhat uncertain period for the club both on and off the pitch.
40% of Liverpool’s summer loans failed – what’s happened to the club’s loan system?