Julian Ward has been credited with playing an instrumental role in bringing Alexis Mac Allister to Liverpool. The £35 million move was confirmed on Thursday morning, ending weeks of speculation linking the midfielder with Anfield. Mac Allister had previously enjoyed a three-and-a-half-year spell with Brighton, during which he captured a World Cup medal with Argentina in Qatar. Ward’s tenure as the club’s sporting director is drawing to a close this summer, and his handover to replacement Jorg Schmadtke is now said to be complete.
Schmadtke will now be responsible for Liverpool’s transfers after his short-term appointment was confirmed last month. Mac Allister has been represented by Juan Manuel Gemelli, who helped to facilitate Philippe Coutinho’s signing from Inter Milan back in 2013. This relationship is said to have been beneficial to Liverpool in getting the signing of the World Cup winner over the line. Mac Allister signed a five-year contract with the Reds, taking on the No. 10 shirt previously occupied by Coutinho, along with the likes of Sadio Mane, Michael Owen and John Barnes. He became the Reds’ first signing of the summer, at the start of what is expected to be a busy transfer window to rectify last season’s shortcomings. Julian Ward was able to treat supporters to a departing gift of his own before he moves on.