Julian Ward could repeat £22m Liverpool masterstroke

Julian Ward has a lot of work to do as Liverpool's new sporting director.

The Englishman took over from Richard Hughes who managed to break Liverpool's transfer record multiple times during his tenure.

He first managed to do it by signing Florian Wirtz for £116 million and then, just a month or so after, Alexander Isak was brought in for £125 million.

This summer, Bradley Barcola became Liverpool's second-most expensive signing ever after he was signed from Paris Saint-Germain for £123 million.

At the moment, only Isak has managed to meet expectations this term with neither Wirtz nor Barcola performing to the standards expected of them.

However, how that Ward is in charge, he can take deals into his own hands and, it already feels like he could be about to repeat one of his previous masterstrokes.

Julian Ward wants to sign Josh King from Fulham

Despite the transfer window being closed, Liverpool have been linked with a whole host of players.

Most of them have been midfielders with the Reds' centre of the park being their main area that needs upgrading.

Because, as well as Alexis Mac Allister has been performing, he can't play two 90 minute games every week.

And, even though they have other options among their ranks, their two senior options, Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch, have failed to meet the standards expected.

So, the fact that 442 have linked the Reds with an interest in Fulham's Josh King makes plenty of sense.

"According to information from 4-4-2.ch , Arsenal, Liverpool, and Borussia Dortmund are seriously considering signing King," they wrote.

"Gunners coach Mikel Arteta is convinced of the playmaker's qualities. The same is true for Liverpool's management, who have been monitoring the England U21 international for some time.

"So far, Fulham have not received a concrete offer. King's contract with the West London club currently runs until 2029.

"His club has ruled out a sale in the winter transfer window. However, this could change next summer – provided the offer is right. The asking price is already around €60 million."

Julian Ward's last transfer from Fulham resulted in £22.5m profit for Liverpool

Liverpool have signed a couple of Fulham's youngsters over the years.

Harvey Elliott and Fabio Carvalho are the players in question and, while the latter of the two may have never properly made his mark at Anfield, he still earned the club plenty of profit.

The Reds signed Carvalho for around £5 million back in 2022 and, even though he went on to make 21 appearances for Liverpool, he was never really a regular starter.

This resulted in Liverpool looking for a way to move him on and, by some miracle, in 2024, Brentford came in with a £27.5 million bid.

Obviously, fans were taken aback by the amount of money that Liverpool were offered for him, especially since he only managed to score three goals during his entire time playing for Liverpool.

Indeed, he was still a 20-year-old with bags of potential so that probably played a significant role in the price that the Bees paid for him but, the fact that Liverpool managed to make £22.5 million in profit on him was unreal.

And, even though King would be brought in to come and play, since he's still so young and has already been setting England's top flight alight with his performances, if Liverpool did end up wanting to move him on, they'd probably make profit again.

Of course, the Reds would rather him play and become a regular starter but, if Ward manages to pull off this deal, it could end up being yet another one of his masterstrokes because, when Carvalho was brought in, Ward was one of the main driving forces behind the move.