Liverpool’s head of recovery and performance Andreas Schlumberger will leave the club at the end of the season.
The 57-year-old, who has been part of the backroom staff since December 2020, will return to his native Germany when the curtain comes down on Jurgen Klopp’s tenure as manager.
Schlumberger was under contract at Liverpool until the summer of 2025 but has reached an agreement with the club to depart in May.
He was recruited from Schalke three and a half years ago in a newly created role focused on players’ on-field recovery following injury. He had been tasked with helping players who have completed their rehab but need extra work to build up their fitness before returning to full training in a bid to ensure they do not break down again.
Schlumberger previously worked alongside Klopp at Borussia Dortmund having been their rehabilitation coach between 2011 and 2015.
After leaving Dortmund, he joined Bayern Munich in a similar capacity, before switching to Borussia Monchengladbach in 2017, where he worked for two-and-a-half years prior to linking up with Schalke.
“If you would ask people in this area — rehab, performance, recovery — he is number one in Germany,” Klopp said shortly after bringing him to Anfield.
Liverpool have maintained a title challenge this season despite suffering a succession of injury setbacks to key personnel such as Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Diogo Jota and Alisson.
It promises to be a summer of sweeping changes at Anfield with coaches Pep Lijnders, Peter Krawietz and Vitor Matos also leaving when Klopp departs.
Head of fitness and conditioning Andreas Kornmayer, who is out of contract in the summer, faces an uncertain future as he waits to discover whether his services will be required under Klopp’s successor.
The managerial search is being led by new sporting director Richard Hughes alongside Fenway Sports Group’s new CEO of football Michael Edwards.
Ruben Amorim is a strong candidate but senior Anfield sources have dismissed reports that there’s a verbal agreement in place for the Sporting Lisbon boss to take over. They insist Liverpool are still doing their due diligence around a number of viable options with no preferred candidate identified at this stage.
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