Liverpool on track to move into new Kirkby training ground for 2020-21 pre-season

Liverpool remain on track to move into their new Kirkby training base prior to pre-season preparations for the 2020-21 campaign getting under way.

The Reds will depart their historic Melwood home next summer as they transfer their first-team operations to a newly-built 9,200sqm complex situated next to the club’s academy in Kirkby.

London-based architect KSS, who previously worked on Anfield’s Main Stand redevelopment and are also currently overseeing Leicester City’s move to a new £100m training ground, designed the facilities in close conjunction with senior football staff.

Jurgen Klopp is one of those, the first-team manager having been an enthusiastic collaborator throughout the process.

One of Klopp’s recommendations will see a clear physical partition placed between the area used by U23s players and their senior counterparts in the new building.

Although they will no longer need to be called up to Melwood as is the case currently, the club’s academy talents will use a separate entrance also shared by visitors and different changing facilities in Kirkby.

That measure is aimed at ensuring that no young player starts to believe they have 'made it' simply through proximity to the first-team setup.

Kind weather in recent months has helped the project remain on budget and on schedule, with work now beginning on the interior of a building that will boast two gyms, a pool, rehabilitation suites, an activation area, and new press facilities.

Outside, the first of several Desso pitches tailored to match the surface found at Anfield are starting to be laid.

On the latest developments, LFC’s chief operating officer Andy Hughes, said: “We are really pleased with the progress that has been made and once the new training ground and its associated buildings are complete, the project will provide first class amenities for our players and staff.

“It has always been our aspiration to provide a clear pathway for progression for our youngsters from the club’s academy to the first team, and the two facilities are now intrinsically linked.

“Work at the training ground is on track for completion in summer 2020 when will see the first team and youth football operations come together on one site for the first time in the club’s history.”

As part of their agreement with Knowsley Council, Liverpool committed to redeveloping the Eddie McArdle played fields to the north of their new site.

Those pitches and new changing facilities, currently used by AFC Kirkby among others, were handed back to the community last week.