Julian Ward needs to recreate his biggest success at Anfield

Julian Ward has been officially announced as Liverpool’s new sporting director.

The Englishman will replace Richard Hughes, who departed at the end of the summer, and is returning to a role he held during the 2022-23 season.

Ward is extending a 14-year affiliation with the Reds, and is one of the most experienced in his profession, especially when it comes to Liverpool.

There are some obvious challenges awaiting the new sporting director, but not all of them can be fixed in the transfer market and many supporters will be hoping he can recreate a big success from his last stint at Anfield.

Ward needs to address contract situation

Although Liverpool’s new sporting director is remembered fondly for the signings he made, including Alexis Mac Allister, Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo, one of his greatest successes actually came in negotiations with Mohamed Salah.

In July 2022, early in Ward’s first reign as sporting director, Salah penned a contract extension at Anfield and the deal was viewed as one of the most important bits of business Liverpool undertook that summer.

Now the Reds find themselves in a position where some of their most important players are into the final 12 months of their deals, having already lost Andrew Robertson, Ibrahima Konate and Salah for free this summer.

The two most important contracts to address are those of Alisson Becker and Virgil van Dijk.

The pair have been absolutely crucial to Liverpool’s success over the last decade and losing both in the same summer for nothing would be a huge blow.

Although 35 and 33 respectively, Van Dijk and Alisson are still performing at the very highest level and have much more to offer the Reds.

Even if an extension only sees them stay until the summer of 2027, keeping both Van Dijk and Alisson in Merseyside would be one of the best bits of business Ward could do.

Ward has done it before with Salah, now it is time to extend two of Liverpool’s bets players once again.