LFC ‘decide against’ sporting director who brought Sadio Mane to England

Liverpool are still yet to make progress in appointing a new sporting director to succeed Julian Ward, with two key candidates now ruled out.

It is now three months Ward tendered his resignation – effective in the summer – and Liverpool appear no closer to appointing his successor.

This comes at a time when the squad is in dire need of a rebuild, with the onus shifting to Jurgen Klopp and his backroom staff when it comes to recruitment.

Earlier in February, The Athletic’s David Ornstein reported interest in Monaco sporting director Paul Mitchell and Eintracht Frankfurt sporting CEO Markus Krosche.

Both links have now been quashed, with the Telegraph‘s Sam Wallace claiming that Liverpool “decided against” a deal with Manchester-born Mitchell.

Mitchell has held his position at Monaco since 2020, but previously worked with Southampton, Tottenham and RB Leipzig, with one of his standout signings being Sadio Mane.

It is unclear exactly why Liverpool opted out of pursuing Mitchell, though a lack of clarity over his future at Monaco – with Ornstein claiming, despite reports to the contrary, that he will stay until at least 2024 – may have played its part.

2K9R3PP Markus KROESCHE (Krosche) (F, sports director) Soccer 1st Bundesliga, 12th matchday, Eintracht Frankfurt (F) - Borussia Dortmund (DO), on October 29th, 2022 in Frankfurt/Germany. #DFL regulations prohibit any use of photographs as image sequences and/or quasi-video #

Meanwhile, Krosche himself has ruled out a move away from Frankfurt, who are currently sixth in the Bundesliga and only five points off leaders Bayern Munich.

“It’s speculation. You have to ask the person who wrote it,” he told SPORT1 following Frankfurt’s defeat to Napoli on Tuesday night.

“I’m here and happy to be at Eintracht Frankfurt. We still have a lot planned and have developed very, very well.

“There is nothing more to say about it.”

Quite where that leaves Liverpool remains to be seen, though with only three months remaining in his position, replacing Ward before the summer transfer window should be a leading priority.