An in-depth look at the Liverpool hierarchy following Julian Ward's return

Fenway Sports Group have been very busy and extremely productive in their retooling of the executive setup around Liverpool Football Club.

In recent times they have managed to secure the return of the beloved transfer guru Michael Edwards and most recently, former director Julian Ward. They have also brought in some new faces to round out the group as the Reds look towards a new era post-Jurgen Klopp.

I'm here to breakdown what the new FSG/LFC executive ladder looks like and what responsibilities each man will have going forward.

Each man will be included with their new positions within the club structure.

Pedro Marques - Director of Football Development

Marques has experience working within the City Football Group multi-club model as a performance analyst.

He departed this role to take the Technical Director spot at Portugal giants, Benfica. He has been there since 2018. Under his watch, a focus on youth development was made a priority as the likes of Goncalo Ramos, Joao Neves, Enzo Fernandez and of course, Darwin Nunez, are some names to have risen in his time with the club.

This expertise in youth is probably a key factor into why FSG wanted to bring him into the fold. In addition, he has a reputation for a keen eye when scouting talent.

He should work well within this group to unearth more future talents that will either contribute at Anfield or return a hefty profit.

Julian Ward - Technical Director

Ward made a triumphant and somewhat surprising return to Liverpool this week. His previous stint at Anfield saw him work as the assistant to Michael Edwards before eventually taking over the Sporting Director role when Edwards departed.

However, technically speaking, Ward will be working for FSG more so than just Liverpool as the Boston-based sports conglomerate continues to look into a multi-club plan.

Ward was only the Sporting Director at Anfield for a year but he was instrumental in securing the services of Alexis Mac Allister, Darwin Nunez, Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz. Not a bad haul for his short-time at the helm.

His new role within this setup will be to focus on overseeing player development across all of FSG's football operations.

He will likely be working closely with Marques as together, both could truly take the youth movement to the next level.

Richard Hughes - Sporting Director

Hughes was the first appointment by Edwards upon his return to FSG when he accepted the move to come over from Bournemouth where he had been doing fine work.

He was the Technical Director for a decade for the Cherries so while still relatively young, he has plenty of experience at this level.

Hughes is another member of this group that has shown an affinity for signing young players that develop into good players or better. Buying cheap and selling high as they say. Dominic Solanke, Aaron Ramsdale and Nathan Ake are some names he has brought into the spotlight.

He also has strong connections in both France and Italy which FSG and Liverpool could potentially use to their advantage as soon as this summer.

Michael Edwards - CEO

Finally, we get to the big kahuna. The top dog. Edwards was the driving force behind almost every transfer during the Klopp era before he shockingly departed to pursue other interests.

He refused a few overtures from FSG in the past to return, but this position was too much to look away from.

He will oversee every football decision that is made for FSG and Liverpool which should be a comforting thought to most. He led the charge in the search for Klopp's successor before landing on Arne Slot who will be arriving imminently.

Edwards will also be a driving force behind FSG's desire to acquire a second club. This club would theoretically be a developmental place to send a lot of Liverpool's young talents to continue their growth in a controlled and similar structure to Anfield.

This is a strong group of executives that Liverpol and FSG now boast. The wealth of knowledge and proven track records among this group is quite impressive

It looks like Liverpool are in good hands moving forward.