Liverpool’s new sporting director Joerg Schmadtke has spoken about his role ahead of the busy transfer window

New sporting director Joerg Schmadtke says Jurgen Klopp will continue to decide the club’s priorities in the transfer market – and revealed the manager’s adviser recommended him for the job.

Schmadtke was confirmed as the successor to outgoing Julian Ward on Tuesday. The 59-year-old takes office on Thursday for an initially short-term spell which will oversee the upcoming summer transfer window.

His first tasks will be to build on the field work already done by the Reds, with two new midfielders who should be a priority. Brighton’s Alexis Mac Allister remains the main target.

And Schmadtke explained how he will work with Klopp and the recruitment team to identify which players can strengthen the squad in the coming months. “The influence of the coach on transfers is greater in England than in Germany, where a sporting director holds everything in one hand,” he told Sport1 in Germany.

“Jürgen Klopp sets the priorities. We set him up with a team of data analysts, scouts, etc., so that he can then choose from a list of players to work with. Then I deals with transfers.” The responsible services at the club.

And in the end, the owners must be satisfied with the investments. “If we like each other, we can work together even after the transfer market. Let’s see. Then we continue or not.”

Schmadtke built a reputation in Germany for extracting value from book signings within a limited budget. And while Fenway Sports Group will release significantly more transfer money than its previous clubs, the German believes there is more to the moves than just the fee.

“I don’t have a budget yet!” he laughed when told of the numbers he would expect if he worked in the Premier League. “Seriously, transfers are always complicated. When a player goes from A to B, it’s usually little things that are hard to influence and have nothing to do with making money.”

“For example, how the player integrates with his family in the city, what should be his place in the team, how can he show his maximum performance. You have to take this into account. The amounts involved in these transfers are almost non- relevant existent ”. “

Klopp had previously distanced himself from suggestions that Schmadtke would only be appointed because he knew him from working in Germany as a player and manager. However, Liverpool’s new sporting director has admitted Klopp’s agent Marc Kosicke suggested him as a candidate for the role.

“We’re not that close to each other,” Schmadtke said of Klopp. “We were in the Bundesliga at the same time. Him as a coach, me as a sports director, you know each other.

“I know his adviser Marc Kosicke better. He has good relations with the owners of Liverpool FC. When the current sporting director announced that he wanted to leave for personal reasons, Marc said: “If you are looking for an older, experienced manager for the transfer window, you might want to look at German Jörg Schmadtke. “

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Liverpool has already signed the ideal replacement for Trent Alexander-Arnold, who can contribute next season.

Trent Alexander-Arnold’s new role should make it clearer who Liverpool’s ideal backup is. Liverpool acquired a player last year who will undoubtedly become a star shortly.

Liverpool’s comeback over the last several months of the season has primarily been attributed to Jürgen Klopp’s smart move to move Trent Alexander-Arnold into a more central midfield role in order to establish dominance in the middle.

With his keen sense of the game and inventive passing, Alexander-Arnold has excelled in that position, highlighting his strengths both on and off the ball and allowing him to cut through defenders like a hot knife through butter.

In addition, he has consistently recorded the most passes completed per game for Liverpool, forcing the opposition to chase after red shirts and their shadows.

But Liverpool has other candidates that are equally qualified for this position as Alexander-Arnold. Should Alexander-Arnold require a break or sustain an injury, Klopp already has the perfect backup ready to go in Calvin Ramsay.

The Scotsman’s debut season with the Reds hasn’t quite allowed him to show off his skills. Even before there were speculations tying him to a move to Anfield, Liverpool.com noted his suitability for the club due to his uncanny resemblance to Alexander-Arnold’s playing style when at Aberdeen.

Ramsay has displayed glimmers of his ability while wearing a red shirt for Liverpool. In his first game for the club’s U21 team, he scored, and on his third start, he added another. At the academy level, he scored two goals overall in just five games.

However, his lone League Cup debut for Liverpool’s first team against Derby County may have been the best example of his skill.

Ramsay played the full-back position that evening with a level of excellence that would have made Alexander-Arnold proud. Additionally, he did so in a more prominent way and in the same manner as Alexander-Arnold at the moment.

In that game against Derby, Ramsay completed two of his three dribbles, won two of his three defensive duels, and completed 107 passes out of 114 attempts, including 19 passes towards the final third and six into the penalty area.

Only once this season, when he was playing in a more central midfield position against Leeds United, has Alexander-Arnold been able to complete more passes than Ramsay. The Reds’ 6-1 victory also applies to passes into the final third, as Alexander-Arnold completed 20 of them.

Alexander-Arnold has averaged between 10 and 20 passes into the final third of the field per game since assuming his new position. Ramsay’s ability to put up these figures while playing a more ‘traditional’ full-back is impressive.

Despite the fact that it is only a tiny sample against Championship-caliber competition, Ramsay’s future at Liverpool appears bright if Klopp decides to keep Alexander-Arnold in his new position.

If Ramsay can avoid his injury issues, there is no reason why he wouldn’t be able to pick up the Alexander-Arnold role and make it his own. Ramsay hasn’t had a great season with injuries, which has made him nearly forgotten around Anfield circles.

He is equipped to play there with equal effectiveness, and over time, he will integrate in well with Klopp’s team.