Liverpool advised to appoint former Man Utd boss as new sporting director in a potentially stunning move

With Julian Ward stepping down from his role as Liverpool sporting director at the end of the season, the Reds are being advised to replace him with a former Manchester United man.

The role has been crucial to Liverpool’s success in recent years, with Ward and Michael Edwards helping Jurgen Klopp bring several trophies to Merseyside.

With the latter set to leave Anfield, the Reds have been advised to bring in former Manchester United manager Ralf Rangnick.

The German manager flopped at United last season, with the team finishing in a disappointing sixth place. However, he is believed to be much better suited for the sporting director role and could work well with fellow countryman Klopp.

In fact, after Liverpool echoKlopp has great admiration for Rangnick after many years successfully managing the Red Bull project, which Reds owners FSG are a fan of – so he could be a good fit.

They note that because the Reds have signed many players from Red Bull’s teams in the past, such as Sadio Mane, Ibrahima Konate, Naby Keita and Takumi Minamino, Rangnick could potentially help rebuild that connection and bring some other high-profile players to them add squad.

The question is, however, would Rangnick be willing to give up his job as Austria coach and join a former rival?

Would Rangnick leave Austria job for Liverpool?

Rangnick has been manager of the Austria national team since last year after parting ways with United after a disappointing year with the club.

He has a relatively good record with the boys, winning against the likes of Croatia and Italy and drawing against France after nine games at the top.

While Rangnick is said to be happy in his current role, the lure of Liverpool and a return to the Premier League could be too tempting to ignore. However, their current sporting director, Ward, has a legacy that will be difficult to live up to.

The Englishman has worked for the Reds in various roles for over a decade but has received plenty of credit for helping seal deals for the likes of Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez, Fabio Carvalho and most recently Cody Gakpo.

He also played a key role in building the squad that won the 2019-20 Premier League and 2019 Champions League so Rangnick had plenty to offer.

Ward is expected to take a short break from football but has already been linked with a move to Dutch giants Ajax so interest in him is not neglected.

Should Rangnick move to Anfield, that would be a very interesting appointment.

Although he has not found success as a manager in the Premier League, it would present the German with a great opportunity to rebuild his reputation. However, United fans might not be too pleased.

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