Julian Ward is Liverpool’s new Sporting Director and it looks as though one of his first signings could well be a club-record arrival.
Indeed, according to numerous reports, Darwin Nunez is on his way from Benfica for €100m (£85m), smashing the £75m record set by Virgil van Dijk back in 2019.
Ward is stamping his authority in his new role at Liverpool, but, in our view, he’s taking a massive risk.
Indeed, while Michael Edwards was never afraid to splash the cash when necessary – spending vast sums on Alisson Becker, van Dijk and Fabinho, he would only usually reserve the big fees for proven talents.
Alisson and Fabinho arrived as beaten Champions League semi-finalists who had starred in Serie A and Ligue 1, while van Dijk came in as a proven Premier League star.
All of these players arrived at Liverpool as established stars in a top-five league, but now, Ward is taking the bold step of splurging a club-record fee on a player that has never played a single minute in a top-five European league.
Of course, the fact that Nunez has never played in France, Germany, England, Spain or Italy’s top division’s doesn’t necessarily reflect his quality – just look at how well Luis Diaz has done since arriving at Porto, but it does indicate that there’s a level of risk attached to this signing.
Spending a club-record fee on a player that hasn’t proven himself in one of Europe’s top leagues is a signing riskier than anything Edwards attempted during his time as the Reds’ Sporting Director.
Whether or not Nunez is a hit at Liverpool remains to be seen, but, if he does flop, Ward’s reputation will be taking a substantial and early hit.
Fingers crossed Ward is making the right decision here.
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