Liverpool appointed Jorg Schmadtke as their new sporting director at the of May, with the German joining on an initial three-month contract. Schmadtke is the replacement for Michael Edwards who was in the job from 2016 until the end of last season.
In his time in the role, Edwards brought players such as Alisson Becker, Virgil Van Dijk, Fabinho, Thiago and Mohamed Salah to Anfield. Schmadtke therefore has a lot to live up to, but he appears to be making an instant impact.
Born in Dusseldorf, he came through the Fortuna Düsseldorf youth system as a goalkeeper in the 1980s before leaving the club in 1993 for Freiburg. Schmadtke played most of his footballing career in the top tier of German football.
Coincidentally, Schmadtke’s son Nils has just been appointed as Borussia Monchengladbach’s sporting director. The 34 year-old Nils has previously worked as a scout at three German clubs, including Gladbach, FC Koln and Wolfsburg – where his father was Director of Sport from June 2018 until he joined Liverpool.
At 59 years-old, senior Schmadtke has built a strong reputation as a sporting director, spending time at Hannover 96 and FC Koln, before Wolfsburg. In his last job, Schmadtke signed Wout Weghorst who had a good record for Wolfsburg, scoring 70 goals in 144 appearances. In 2020, he also signed Maxence Lacroix for the German league side for a fee of €5m. This was great business, as many Premier League clubs have been linked with the French centre-back for €20m plus.
Despite being brought in by Jurgen Klopp, the two have never worked professionally together, although it is known that they are good friends away from football. Their new partnership has started well for Liverpool, with two huge midfield signings already through the door at Anfield this summer.
Schmadtke has so far brought in World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister from Brighton for an initial fee of £35m, and the Hungarian youngster Dominik Szoboszlai for £60m. It was clear at the end of last season the Reds needed a huge rebuild in midfield, and they have wasted no time in doing just that.
Their summer business is apparently not over, with Schmadtke looking at introducing holding midfielder Romeo Lavia to complete a brand-new Liverpool midfield. Lavia, who is 19 years-old, spent two years at Manchester City before his £10.5m move to now-relegated Southampton.
The Belgian was one of very few bright sparks in the Saints’ side last season. It is believed that the transfer would cost around £50m, with interest in Lavia also coming from Chelsea and Arsenal. With the speed of transfers being completed by the new Liverpool sporting director, he will presumably look to wrap a deal up as soon as possible to beat the competition the Merseyside club are facing for Lavia’s signature.
If Liverpool are satisfied with the work of Schmadtke during the summer window, he may be offered a longer stay in England. This could potentially be just the beginning of a successful working relationship between Klopp and his latest sporting director.
