Liverpool add 9 new faces to first-team training squad as pre-season continues

Liverpool continued their pre-season preparations with another hard-working session on Tuesday morning as Jurgen Klopp gets his squad ready to go again in the new season.

The Reds won both the FA Cup and League Cup last term, but fell just short to Manchester City in the Premier League before losing the Champions League final against Real Madrid at the end of May. Since then, Klopp has looked to strengthen his ranks, notably with big-money addition from Benfica, Darwin Nunez, but also young due Fabio Carvalho and Calvin Ramsay.

Sadio Mane, so crucial in recent years, has gone, completing his £35m switch to Bayern Munich last month, while Takumi Minamino, Divock Origi and Loris Karius have all left the club too.

Neco Williams could be the next player to leave, with the Wales international currently training by himself at the AXA Training Centre; as it stands, no suitable offer - be it a loan deal or a permanent transfer - have been forthcoming.

While some players remain on holiday still, 15 players were involved in first-team training on Monday including club captain Jordan Henderson, January arrival Luis Diaz, Joel Matip, Joe Gomez, Ramsay and Carvalho. Roberto Firmino also returned to training.

There were nine academy stars drafted into the senior set-up on Tuesday too. Amongst those were Melkamu Frauendorf, Stefan Bajcetic and Bobby Clark, while Luke Chambers was again involved after his inclusion on Monday.

Frauendorf is the only one out of the four to make a first-team appearance, after he featured from the bench in the Reds' 4-1 win over Shrewsbury Town in the FA Cup. Bajcetic and Clark were regularly namechecked by Pep Lijnders as ones to watch back in January, and appear set to be given a chance ahead of friendlies against Manchester United, Crystal Palace, RB Leipzig, RB Salzburg and Strasbourg.

Isaac Mabaya is also highly thought of at Liverpool and the 17-year-old was also with the squad. Goalkeepers Harvey Davies and Fabian Mrozek were drafted into the mix with Alisson and Caoimhim Kelleher yet to return from their holidays, with veteran Spaniard Adrian the only senior shot-stopper back for pre-season. James Norris, who has spent the last two seasons sidelined through injury, also took part, while Tom Hill was the final youth team player to be included in training, as the Reds did some ball work out on the grass after spending much of Monday in the gym.

Nat Phillips, Jake Cain, Leighton Clarkson, Owen Beck, Rhys Williams, Tyler Morton, Sepp van den Berg, Harvey Elliott and Ben Davies also took part in Tuesday's session. Other than Elliott, those eight are all set for moves away or loan deals to get game time in the new season.

The rest of Liverpool's senior core, including Mohamed Salah and Nunez, are expected to return over the course of the next week. Liverpool's first Premier League game is just over a month away when they travel to Fulham on the opening weekend.