Three things spotted from Liverpool training as defender makes surprise early return

Liverpool started their preparations for the 2022-23 season on Monday.

Jurgen Klopp’s squad returned to their Kirkby-based training ground as pre-season got underway.

Some of the Reds’ players such as Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold won’t be back until later this week. They’ve been given extra time off after the international break.

But from the session, here’s three things we spotted.

New boys get started

Fabio Carvalho's official unveiling took place at the weekend.

The attacking midfielder was announced as a Liverpool player in May, with a fee of up to £7.7 million agreed with Fulham, before pictures and interviews took place.

Now Carvalho will feel he has properly started life as a Reds player.

The teenager linked up with his new team-mates on what would have been an exciting day for him.

The same can be said for Calvin Ramsay, having joined from Aberdeen for up to £6.5 million.

The pair are likely now to be itching to get onto the grass with Liverpool and show off their ability.

However, there was no Darwin Nunez at Kirkby. The striker, who was signed from Benfica for what could become a club-record £85 million.

He's been given extra time off after representing Uruguay during the international break.

Chambers’ surprise appearance

It was no surprise that Kaide Gordon was with Klopp's squad.

The winger might only be 17 but he's expected to be on the periphery of things yet again this season and will feature in cup competitions.

However, the fact Luke Chambers reported for duty was somewhat of a shock.

It's not been a week since Chambers helped England to European Championships under-19 glory. The defender came off the bench in the 3-1 defeat of Israel in the final on Friday.

But rather than take a break, which would have been thoroughly deserved, Chambers instead has shown his commitment levels by checking in to Kirkby.

Pep Lijnders indeed has said he was looking forward to seeing Chambers training with the first team this summer.

Now the 18-year-old is clearly desperate to impress - and it won't go unnoticed.

Davies returns

Perhaps one player that's out of fans' minds is Ben Davies.

Signed amid a defensive crisis in January 2020, the centre-back is still to make a single appearance for Liverpool.

Davies spent last season on loan at Sheffield United. Although he could only manage 22 appearances, he generally impressed when he did feature.

Now Davies is back on Merseyside for the meantime as his next move is to be decided.

In truth, it's difficult to see Davies breaking into Klopp's plans.

Liverpool have Virgil van Dijk, Joel Matip, Ibou Konate and Joe Gomez as centre-half options. Below the senior quartet, there are youngsters Rhys Williams and Sepp van den Berg.

Let's not forget about Nat Phillips, either. He’s back after helping Bournemouth to be promoted into the Premier League but is expected to depart once again.

Still, Davies will be keen to test himself against the likes of Nunez, Mo Salah and Luis Diaz in training.