Julian Ward wanted £130m star for just £50m; Liverpool said no
· Yahoo Sports
Liverpool sporting director Julian Ward was eager to sign a £130m player for a mere fraction of that. The Reds said no.
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Julian Ward is back in as Liverpool sporting director. He replaces Richard Hughes, who replaced Jorg Schmadtke, who replaced... Julian Ward.
Ward had stepped down back in 2023, believing he wasn’t on the same page as Jurgen Klopp. Klopp (rightly) wielded a lot of power at the club, which naturally took away from the sporting director role.
That’s no longer the case. Not only is Klopp gone, but Liverpool have moved towards a head coach model. The person running the team simply doesn’t have the same say as a ‘manager’ once did.
And that’s clearly appealed to Ward. He’s taken the position back and it almost certainly means he has significantly more say than he did last time around.
Julian Ward wanted Alexander Isak
Anfield Watch understands that Julian Ward wanted Alexander Isak back when he was in charge the first time around. He put some planning in place to sign the Swede, who was at Real Sociedad at the time.
This was around 2022, when Ward took over. Liverpool were in the market for a new striker, hoping to move in a new direction up top as Roberto Firmino came to the end of his time at the club.
That meant and out-and-out no.9. Ward pushed for Isak, potentially getting him for around £50m. Klopp, however, was all-in on Darwin Nunez. Liverpool ultimately signed the latter.
Now, in hindsight, Liverpool got that one wrong. Or at least, did on an individual basis - Nunez was still a relatively key player in the title-winning team of 2025 and there's far from any guarantee that Isak would have delivered similar.
But Isak has certainly reached heights that Nunez never got near.
It was also a far more difficult sell at the time. Nunez had just scored 34 goals in all competitions, including 6 in 10 UEFA Champions League matches. Isak, in contrast, scored 10 that season, with just 6 La Liga goals.
Ultimately, Ward was correct in pushing for Isak - the Swede had actually just had a down season, whereas Nunez performed well above expectations. Liverpool took a chance on 'proven' rather than 'likely', in other words.