It may have been several years ago that Julian Ward first sowed the seeds for Arne Slot to ultimately become Liverpool head coach last summer.
The Dutchman was (in the eyes of many pundits and even some Reds fans) a surprise choice to take over from the legendary Jurgen Klopp, but that decision has been well and truly vindicated by the 46-year-old winning the Premier League title in his first season in charge.
Such has been his impact on Merseyside that a few journalists covering the club have already clamoured for him to be given a new long-term contract at Anfield, with his current deal only running to 2027.
Ward first met Slot several years ago
In the latest Liverpool Confidential feature for the Daily Mail, Lewis Steele and Dominic King detailed how Ward – who was LFC’s loans manager from October 2015 to December 2020 – had already made contact with Slot before the latter had even taken charge of Feyenoord in 2021.
The report outlined: ‘The Dutchman had been on their radar for a while before official contact was made, with Julian Ward – who first met Slot as loans manager, then later became sporting director and is now technical director at Fenway Sports Group – visited Feyenoord in Rotterdam for a few days.
‘Officially, Ward was there to check out how certain European clubs worked, but it was clear that he was sniffing around how Slot worked and secretly gaining first-hand references as part of the club’s due diligence.
‘[Current Liverpool sporting director Richard] Hughes then flew out to meet Slot at his home in Zwolle and sold a vision to him. You need not be a genius to work out what Hughes and Co think of Slot now: he has blown everyone at the club away with how meticulous he is.’
Ward knew straight away that Slot is a shrewd operator
It seems apparent that Ward was impressed by Slot from the moment that they first met when the former was working as Liverpool’s loans manager, a time which was well before the latter became our head coach.
In the first few weeks after Klopp announced in January 2024 that he’d be leaving at the end of that season, Xabi Alonso and Ruben Amorim were – publicly at least – the two most prominent names in LFC’s search for a replacement for the larger-than-life German.
The Spaniard would’ve been a popular choice given his previous as a Reds player, and having been in the midst of leading Bayer Leverkusen to an unbeaten Bundesliga triumph. However, the Portuguese coach (then of Sporting Lisbon) has endured rather mixed results at Manchester United since taking charge six months ago.
In any event, Liverpool have struck gold with Slot, an affable character who represents the club brilliantly while also delivering tangible success on the pitch and commendably navigating the three-pronged contractual saga involving Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold before their respective futures were decided.
If Ward’s initial meeting with the current Reds boss was the embryo which led to the 46-year-old now being the man in the home dugout at Anfield, we can be most grateful for their paths having crossed!
