Former Larne midfielder, Julian Ward, has made a surprising return to the club's ownership group, Fenway Sports Group (FSG), just a year after his departure as the Reds' sporting director. Ward, who previously served under Michael Edwards, has been appointed as the technical director at FSG with Pedro Marques, arriving from Benfica, named as the director of football development.

Interestingly, Ward, who spent a year at Inver Park in the early 200s, had considered a global technical director role with INEOS Football Group, owned by Sir Jim Ratcliffe who holds a 25% stake in Manchester United, reports the Mirror. However, he was persuaded to return to Liverpool.

Richard Hughes, joining from Bournemouth this summer, will take over Ward and Edwards' former roles. His responsibilities will include recruitment, negotiations, medical and science operations, as well as administrative and facilities management.

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Ward is expected to oversee player development across FSG's football operations. He was promoted to replace Edwards in 2022 following his departure after a decade as sporting director.

During his tenure, Ward played a pivotal role in negotiating several significant transfers for Liverpool, including club-record signing Darwin Nunez and deals for Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo.

Ward initially joined Liverpool as European scouting manager in 2012 before taking over as loan and pathways manager in 2015. He was promoted to assistant sporting director, underneath Edwards, in December 2020, before succeeding him 18 months later.

However, his tenure as sporting director lasted just one season, with Ward’s decision to depart the Reds made public as early as November 2022. He had played a vital role in the signings of Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo, along with agreeing Mohamed Salah's new contract with the club, and helped finalise the signing of Alexis Mac Allister before his exit in the summer of 2023.

FSG have been busy restructuring their footballing operations ever since learning of Klopp’s decision to step down as Liverpool manager last November.

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