IN WITH THE OLD?! Liverpool owners FSG decide to re-appoint former sporting director to replace Richard Hughes

Fenway Sports Group have reportedly decided to make an internal appointment to replace Richard Hughes as Liverpool's sporting director.

Hughes left his role earlier this month following a turbulent summer, choosing to join Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal. The former Bournemouth chief spent two years in the hot seat at Anfield, overseeing the big-money transfers of Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak and Bradley Barcola.

His departure followed that of Michael Edwards, who stepped down as the chief executive officer of football of FSG in July. A busy summer also saw a consortium, which includes Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, take over a third of the club.

FSG have scoured the market for Hughes' replacement before deciding to keep things in-house by choosing Julian Ward. The Athletic reports that Ward will switch from FSG technical director to Liverpool's sporting director, with a process overseen by FSG president Mike Gordon now nearing its conclusion.

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Ward has been at the club since 2012 and has held a variety of roles at Liverpool and owners FSG. He was European scouting manager for Spain and Portugal, then loan pathways manager and then assistant sporting director.

Ward was promoted to become sporting director following the departure of Edwards in the summer of 2022, but stepped down at the end of the 2022/23 season, shocking Liverpool in the process. He returned to the fold by following Edwards to FSG in 2024, where he has been tasked with overseeing player development pathways and the academy, and is now returning to Anfield as sporting director.

During his short-lived previous spell as sporting director, Ward oversaw the signings of Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo, among other players. He was also behind the arrival of Alexis Mac Allister in the summer of 2023, having stayed longer than his exit date to seal the deal for the Brighton midfielder.

It means that David Woodfine will remain as Liverpool's assistant sporting director, working underneath Ward, while Pedro Marques - who was another candidate for the role and a close colleague of Ward - will stay as FSG's director of football development.

FSG did speak to external candidates, including Brentford technical director Lee Dykes, before deciding to elevate Ward back into the hot seat. He will therefore take charge of player recruitment at Liverpool following a difficult summer.

Hughes' spell in charge was bookended by the £123million signing of Barcola from Paris Saint-Germain, while Victor Munoz, Jeremy Jacquet and Ronald Araujo all also arrived this summer. But the slow-burn nature of the summer transfer window raised plenty of eyebrows and caused some friction, with Mark Burchill and Craig McKee also leaving the club to follow Hughes to Saudi Arabia.

Andoni Iraola, who arrived following an impressive spell at Bournemouth to replace Arne Slot, was exasperated by the club's transfer business, which saw a net spend of £172m accumulated.