Danny Ward: Liverpool Loan Goalkeeper a Championship Sleeper Hit at Huddersfield

“It’s a wonderful story at Huddersfield,” Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp told reporters in September, heaping praise on his former Borussia Dortmund colleague David Wagner, now at the helm at Huddersfield Town. “I watch a lot of Championship football. I’m interested in how Huddersfield are doing.”

Klopp’s relationship with Wagner goes back decades, from time as team-mates at Mainz 05 to operating as manager and reserve manager at Dortmund and now together in England—one in the Premier League and one in the Championship.

Wagner was best man at Klopp’s wedding to his long-term partner, Ulla, in 2005, while the 44-year-old told the Guardian’s Andy Hunter in December that “I’ve known Jurgen longer than I’ve known my wife.”

More importantly, Wagner revealed that the pair “have the same thinking about football,” and this is why Klopp is not only watching out for the Terriers’ results in the English second tier, but also the performances of goalkeeper Danny Ward.

Ward joined Huddersfield on a season-long loan at the beginning of July, with Liverpool revealing the Wales international had “signed a new long-term contract” ahead of his move to the John Smith’s Stadium.

Though he ended up as one of 12 players to leave the Reds on loan during the summer transfer window, including familiar faces Lazar Markovic, Andre Wisdom and Jon Flanagan, Ward will be among a select few whom Klopp takes a more vested interest in over the course of 2016/17.

Fortunately, just under a quarter of the way through the Championship season, Ward is proving to be one of the sleeper hits of the division and could be paving his way into the Liverpool first team in the future.

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Ward arrived at Huddersfield to replace the previous campaign’s regular starting goalkeeper, Jed Steer, who had returned to parent club Aston Villa after a successful loan spell of his own, and Wagner praised the Terriers’ acquisition.

“I’ve spoken before about using the loan market to bring special talent to the club and Danny is another great example of this,” he told the club’s official website, continuing to hail the Welshman’s talents:

Danny is a goalkeeper that Liverpool FC rates very highly, which is why he has signed a new long-term contract at the club.

He did very well out on loan last season and I believe we can help him take the next step in his career this season, so he will return to Liverpool a better goalkeeper. He is good with the ball at his feet, which is important in our style, but most importantly he is excellent at keeping the ball out of his net!

Wagner alluded to Ward’s spell on loan with Aberdeen in the first half of 2015/16, in which the goalkeeper kept 10 clean sheets in 21 appearances in the Scottish Premiership, conceding just 20 goals in the process before being recalled to Liverpool in the January transfer …

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