What Jorg Schmadtke did during latest Liverpool pre-season session

Sporting director Jorg Schmadtke was spotted watching Liverpool’s latest pre-season training session.

Schmadtke was snapped on the sidelines at the AXA Training Centre on Monday as some of Jurgen Klopp’s side were put through their paces.

Eight first-team players returned for duty last Saturday as preparations for the 2023-24 season began in earnest. They were Adrian, Stefan Bajcetic, Fabinho, Joe Gomez, Joel Matip, Darwin Nunez, Nat Phillips and Thiago Alcantara.

Several under-21s players have been involved today’s session including Ben Doak and Bobby Clark.

Bajcetic and Thiago are undergoing the final stages of rehabilitation programmes after respective adductor and hip operations so did not train with the rest of the squad, while Phillips could not be spotted. Tyler Morton was pictured embracing Klopp but did not partake as he continues his covery from a fractured metatarsal.

And those out on the pitch not only were being observed by Klopp, Pep Lijnders and the rest of the Liverpool coaching staff but Schmadtke.

The German succeeded Julian Ward as the Reds’ sporting director in May. Schmadtke has already been hard at work at Anfield as he played a key role in the signing of Dominik Szoboszlai from RB Leipzig for £60 million. Fellow midfielder Alexis Mac Allister was also recruited with Schmadtke in his remit, although Ward is thought to have put a lot of the groundwork in before his departure.

Certainly, being spotted watching training was something that never happened to Ward nor cult figure Michael Edwards - who left the sporting director post at the end of the 2021-22 season - in the public eye.