Jurgen Klopp will lose a key man as part of the team that helps him succeed at Liverpool as sporting director Julian Ward is set to leave Merseyside this summer and could now be on his way to the Netherlands.
According to the reliable Mike Verweij of De Telegraaf, the journalist has revealed that Liverpool‘s Julian Ward has emerged as a leading candidate to take over as sporting director with Ajax.
The role is a crucial one within European football given the size of the Amsterdam club and how active they usually are in transfer markets.
Verweij points out that Ward speaks numerous languages fluently and specialises in Brazilian and Portuguese transfer markets, which could really benefit the Dutch club.
Ward announced in November that he was stepping down from his sporting director role with Liverpool at the end of this season after being in the position for only one season.
The Liverpool man oversaw the transfers of Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo whilst being involved in many others such as that of Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz.
Ward’s departure at the end of the season is a big blow to Jurgen Klopp, who relies a lot on his sporting director, and a new challenge might await him at Ajax.