Liverpool's Ward emerges as leading candidate for as Ajax sporting director

Liverpool's Julian Ward has emerged as a leading candidate to take over as sporting director with Ajax.

Ward announced in November that he was stepping down from his role with Liverpool at the end of this season.

And he is now being seriously considered by the Dutch champions to replace Marc Overmars.

Ward has only been sporting director for a season at Anfield after taking over from Mike Edwards but has overseen transfers such as Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo.

His decision to exit was unexpected and is understood to have been greeted with disappointment within the club.

Liverpool are considering whether to continue with the sporting director model that was first introduced under Edwards in 2016.

Jurgen Klopp, who likes the sporting director structure and was close to both Edwards and Ward, will have a pivotal role in deciding how football operations should be run come the end of the season.

The chief executive, Billy Hogan, will also be involved in the final decision.