New Liverpool director of football Jörg Schmadtke has admitted he is yet to discuss a transfer budget with the club for this summer.
The German has been speaking to Sport 1 in Germany after being announced as Liverpool’s new director of football today.
The 59-year-old is moving to Anfield on an initial three-month contract to aid Liverpool’s transfer efforts this summer as they plan for an overhaul following a difficult campaign.
It is believed Jurgen Klopp would like to completely change up several areas of the team, particularly his midfield, which has been a weak point this season and identified as the are of the squad that needs a major rebuild.
That is likely to be an expensive venture given the calibre of player required for Liverpool to get back to their best, and Schmadtke admits he is yet to discuss what sort of budget he’ll be working with.
“I don’t have a budget yet,” he said.
“Seriously, transfers are always complicated. When a player moves from A to B, it’s mostly about small things that are difficult to influence and unrelated to making money.
“For example, how the player integrates with his family in the city, what his place in the team should be, how he can show his maximum performance. You have to take that into account. The sums involved in these transfers are almost irrelevant.”
The big question at the club is who will have final say on transfers moving forwards, with Klopp seemingly gaining more power over transfers at the club.
That role has largely been left up to the likes Michael Edwards and Julian Ward in recent years, with the former enjoying huge success and being credited with most of Liverpool’s best signings in the last decade.
Ward did not prove to be as successful and only last six months in the job before departing, leading to the arrival of Schmadtke this summer.
And he admits Klopp will have more of an input, with the Liverpool manager setting the priorities for him and his team to find.
“The influence of the coach on transfers is greater in England than in Germany, where a sports director or sports director holds everything in one hand,” he added.
“Jürgen Klopp sets the priorities. We set him up with a team of data analysts, scouts and so on, so he can then choose from a list of players who he wants to work with.
“Then I’ll deal with the transfers with the responsible departments in the club. And in the end, the owners have to be satisfied with the investments.”
