Liverpool had an upper hand on their Premier League archrivals Manchester United on Monday night in the January transfer. As PSV Eindhoven declared that Cody Gakpo was out for sale, Liverpool went on to get him in for a contract before Manchester United could get their hands on him.
As for Liverpool, Julian Ward is stepping down from the sporting director post next summer. His tenure has been short as he carried out his responsibilities for only one season.
The Anfield chief came into the action after Michael Edward quit the role earlier this year. Julian Ward has been putting in his efforts as he served several of his positions for over a decade now. Therefore, his break from the football world is justified even though the club is not happy with the decision.
After taking over Edwards, Julian was decisive in his job for Liverpool. The club astonished everyone in the January transfer window at the start of this year. Out of nowhere, Liverpool signed Luis Diaz from Porto.
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At the time, Liverpool pipped Tottenham to get this deal done. Ward was behind this clever move. Apparently, this time they beat their archrivals Manchester City ahead of January 2023’s transfer window.
Details of the Cody Gakpo deal
On Monday night, the Netherlands striker Cody Gakpo was in demand again, before Liverpool struck a deal with the footballer for 37 million euros. As for now, the fees could rise to 45 million euros taking add-ons into the picture.
This deal came out as a surprise in and around the football community, given that Manchester United seemed to be closer to acquiring the deal.
But Liverpool overtook Erik ten Hag’s side in the contest to sign Cody Gakpo. Adding to the fact that it was Jurgen Klopp’s request, Virgil van Dijk played a pivotal role in convincing his national team’s counterpart to join him.
As per the reports, Ward mediated the deal, allowing its completion within 2 days of negotiation between the clubs. The winning move that Ward played was offering to pay the majority of the amount in advance.
Contrary to it, Manchester United put a forward structured agreement, allowing their rivals to take the upper hand.
As Julian Ward is set to leave the party, Liverpool will have to look for his alternative ahead of next summer.
