His official stint in the office of sporting director will only be brief, but Julian Ward's Liverpool legacy could be significant when he eventually walks away next summer.
The job of replacing the vaunted Michael Edwards was always going to be a difficult one given the near-mythical status he enjoyed within Liverpool's fanbase, particularly since becoming the club's maiden sporting director in November 2016.
Many of the players who are responsible for some of the most memorable nights in living memory at Anfield were brought to the club on Edwards' studious and analytically-driven watch, so the task of following on from someone of such status within football was no doubt a daunting prospect, even for someone like Ward, whose tutelage and preparation for the role was done with a view for the long term.
PAUL GORST VERDICT: Gakpo and Nunez promise much for Liverpool after Klopp masterstroke
READ MORE: Former Manchester United boss may have played key role in Cody Gakpo joining Liverpool
Ward spent the best part of 18 months readying himself for the job and in all actuality had been performing the role in all but title during Edwards' long goodbye. The former Tottenham and Portsmouth analyst actually announced he would be departing in November 2021, well over six months before his eventual exit.
Since the turn of 2022 then, Ward has taken on greater responsibility within the recruitment department while Edwards took a more backseat role. In a way, the changing of the guard represents something akin to the legendary Boot Room culture at Anfield, only with a modern twist based around how a football operations structure should look at an elite-level club in 2022.
His stint as Edwards' assistant helped him get in tune with the needs of what must surely be one of the most demanding roles in all of football. After excelling as loan and pathways manager, Ward was said to have been an important figure in helping the club fetch around £11m from Lyon for Xherdan Shaqiri, while his command of Portuguese - honed through his time with the Portugal national team under Carlos Quieroz - made him a key contact for Claudio Taffarel when the legendary Brazil goalkeeper became a Liverpool coach in 2021.
The impressive Ward was gradually weaned onto the more sizable projects at the AXA Centre and was credited with the lion's share of the work that brought Luis Diaz to Merseyside from Porto at the turn of the year. That was viewed as a huge coup for Ward inside the corridors of power as Liverpool acted swiftly to bat away Tottenham interest and sign the winger with just days of the transfer window left.
The 40-year-old also smoothed the runaway for Darwin Nunez's landing in June after talks were thrashed out with Rui Costa at Benfica ahead of an initial agreement worth £64m for the Uruguay international. Again, plaudits were laid at his feet from inside the club over how quickly he acted to replace the Bayern Munich-bound Sadio Mane.
Perhaps the biggest feather in the cap of the former Manchester City scout is getting Mohamed Salah to commit to a new, long-term Liverpool contract over the summer. A delegation that was led by Ward flew out to the Greek island of Mykonos in late June to get Salah's signature on the biggest contract ever handed out at Anfield. It ended months of speculation surrounding the future of a player who is already considered one of the all-time greats on Merseyside.
But it's the move for Cody Gakpo that has reinforced Ward's burgeoning reputation as a decisive figure within the ranks. It's believed he spent much of his time over the festive period ensuring his PSV Eindhoven counterpart Marcel Brands was receptive to what Liverpool could offer.
Like Nunez and Diaz before him, Liverpool are firm in their belief they fended off interest from at least one Premier League rival to land Gakpo. With Manchester United repeatedly linked with a move for the Netherlands international amid reported admiration from their Dutch manager, Erik ten Hag, it doesn't need Ted Hastings and his AC-12 team to get to the bottom of that particular investigation.
Ward, at the top of the year, was tasked with bringing down the average age of the squad and replenishing the long-term options in the forward department as Liverpool began to slowly look towards life after Salah, Mane and Roberto Firmino, who is about to enter the last six months of his own terms.
The captures of Diaz (25) and Nunez (23) have helped significantly on that front and Gakpo's expected arrival, at the age of 23, will also aid that particular strategy. The new deal for 26-year-old Diogo Jota in August is another tentpole of the plan. It's been a flexible blueprint for a reason.
Liverpool have been made to push forward with transfers for both Gakpo and Diaz due to interest from elsewhere. Rather than move on to other targets, the Reds instead have been agile enough to change course for the player they really want. It's the benefits of being such a well-run club behind the scenes, regardless of how a chaotic November might have generally been perceived on the outside.
And for a club whose ownership are often berated for their perceived parsimony, the signings of Diaz, Nunez and Gakpo will cost somewhere between £140m and £180m depending on how many add-ons are unlocked. "There's a clear vision for someone like Julian to work towards," said one source last summer. "The football operations team always has a plan."
Ward's intention to step down next summer caught many off guard with even some within his own department expressing their private shock to the ECHO when the news was confirmed.
“It was a surprise when Julian told me," Klopp conceded on Friday. "But we work completely normal together until the day that he leaves. Julian is 100% committed and everything is fine. We never had a problem and will not have a problem, so it’s all fine.
“He told me after the Southampton game and it was a surprise at that moment. That is his decision and that’s okay. It will have no impact for this period (until Ward’s departure), not at all.”
Given his overriding task was to bring down the age of the attack without compromising the quality, Ward will feel - with ample justification - that his brief was carried out to the letter. But perhaps there is one last jewel to be fitted onto the crown?
Liverpool's long-standing interest in Jude Bellingham is there for all to see and it was interesting to hear Klopp waxing lyrical about the Borussia Dortmund starlet prior to the Boxing Day clash at Aston Villa. The Reds manager's confidence in discussing the merits of another team's player was a break from tradition, but his admiration for Bellingham is hardly football's best-kept secret at this stage.
For Ward, maybe his next and final trick is to convince the 19-year-old Bellingham and his family that he would be best served spending the next stage of his career at Liverpool and become the best midfielder on the planet under the careful guidance of Klopp? Complete that mission and Ward really will go down as a hero on the Kop.
READ NEXT:
Cody Gakpo has given the game away about Manchester United ahead of Liverpool deal
Robin van Persie comments on Cody Gakpo send big warning to Liverpool rivals
Former Manchester United boss may have played key role in Cody Gakpo joining Liverpool
Cody Gakpo sends message to Virgil van Dijk as Liverpool transfer nears
- Virgil van Dijk sent brutal Cody Gakpo message to Man United before Liverpool launched transfer bid
