Jamie Carragher admits it is 'a shock' after Julian Ward announced he was QUITTING Liverpool

Jamie Carragher described the news that Liverpool sporting director Julian Ward was quitting his role as 'a shock', after just a season in his role.

The former Liverpool defender admitted it was 'not ideal' that Ward was vacating his role after only taking on the responsibility in the summer, as he was a key component in the Reds' attempts to make on-pitch reinforcements.

Ward had replaced former sporting director Michael Edwards after working his way through the ranks at Anfield, but is set to take a break from football - news which has dismayed many at Liverpool.

'It's not ideal. When you're talking about recruiting players, a person in that role is involved not just right now for the January transfer window - you're talking about the summer as well.

'It does feel like a little bit of a shock and a little bit of a worry for Liverpool right now. There seems to be a lot of upheaval behind the scenes in terms of the ownership.

'Michael Edwards has moved on, Julian Ward came in to replace him and now he's gone as well.

'I don't think it will be easy to get someone in straight away and if it is unexpected for Liverpool and it has come as a shock then I'm sure they're not prepared for something like that right now.

'But someone will fill that role, and hopefully they have as much success as Julian Ward and Michael Edwards have had in the past.'

Ward's departure from the club comes with much uncertainty hovering over the Reds, with the Fenway Sports Group putting the club up for sale.

And Ward is not the only prominent figure behind the scenes at Anfield taking a step back, with club research director Dr. Ian Graham also resigning and seeing out his one-season notice period, like Ward, according to the Athletic.

Liverpool had been hoping that Ward could continue the fine work that Edwards had begun, which included the transformative signings of Alisson, Virgil van Dijk, Sadio Mane and Mohamad Salah in recent years.

Although Ward is thought to have played a key role in the signing of Luis Diaz, and had taken on his role in the summer that saw the arrivals of Fabio Carvalho and Darwin Nunez, he is set to leave sooner than the Reds had anticipated.

As a result, summer 2023 will almost appear to herald in a new era at Anfield, with the two sporting directors who have overseen their most successful period in several years leaving, and the club up for sale.

It remains to be seen whether the club can make any signings over the January window with Ward set to make a final impact at the club, who find themselves at risk of falling away from the leading pack in the Premier League.