Jorg Schmadtke has been appointed as Liverpool's new sporting director.
The 59-year-old German, who left a similar role at Bundesliga side Wolfsburg at the beginning of 2023 after more than four years, will take up his post on Thursday once work permit formalities have been completed.
He will replace Julian Ward, who is due to leave the club this summer after more than a decade.
Fenway Sports Group president Mike Gordon told the club’s website: "Firstly, I would like to welcome Jorg to Liverpool Football Club in the knowledge that he will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience into a role in which such qualities can only be beneficial both to him and us.
"Jorg will work with our football operations department as it continues to provide support for Jurgen Klopp, in keeping with our ongoing endeavour to keep growing and developing the club in all areas.
"At the same time as we welcome Jorg, we must also bid a fond farewell to Julian Ward, who has served us with unstinting diligence, fortitude and energy in a number of roles, the most recent one being sporting director."
Former goalkeeper Schmadtke made more than 300 Bundesliga appearances for Fortuna Dusseldorf, Freiburg, Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Monchengladbach during his playing career before moving into administration.
He had spells at Cologne, Hannover and Alemannia Aachen before joining Wolfsburg.
Meanwhile, Chelsea have announced the appointment of Chris Jurasek as their new chief executive while president of business Tom Glick is set to leave after less than a year in his role.
The Blues' 12th-place Premier League finish in owners' the Clearlake group’s first season has led to Mauricio Pochettino being named head coach and tasked with improving their on-field fortunes.
Further upheaval off the pitch came with the announcement that Jurasek will oversee all business areas at Chelsea and report to the board alongside co-sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley.
"I’m delighted to be joining Chelsea, a club which is loved and followed all over the world," Jurasek said. "I’m enormously proud to be leading it into the next chapter in its rich history.
"We have huge opportunities to grow on and off the pitch and to engage our exceptional fans both in London and wherever they are supporting us from."
Former Manchester City executive Glick will be exiting the club, having only been appointed last July – although no departure date was announced by the club, who said the former president of NFL franchise the Carolina Panthers wanted "to pursue other opportunities".
Glick will work closely with Jurasek in the coming months to ensure a smooth transition before leaving.
