Schmadtke explains why he’s only been given a three-month contract at Liverpool

Speaking with, the 59-year-old said: ‘Our cooperation is initially planned for three months… I’ll start on June 1st. After three months we review the cooperation. If we like each other, we can work together beyond the transfer period. Let’s see. Then we continue or not’.

Obviously this period covers the transfer window so it does make sense that if you were to pick any three months of the year, it would be June, July and August but it’s still a very temporary fix for this vacancy.

With months of time to find a new member of the recruitment team, why the decision was made to only find a potentially stop-gap appointment will only be known by those who have hired the German.

It can either be viewed that the move was so undesirable that the only way we could get an interested party was on such a short-term deal or, the former Wolfsburg man was so desperate to work at Anfield he accepted any contract on offer.

The hope must be for everyone that this is so successful we soon have the ex-goalkeeper at the club for many years to come and so, we’ll keep our fingers crossed for a long-term deal being announced soon.

For now though, our new sporting director has three months to help complete a monumental summer of work in a country he’s never worked before and with the knowledge he may well be out of a job by September.

Schmadtke's appointment was confirmed on Tuesday morning, with the experienced German replacing Julian Ward to oversee Liverpool's summer business.

He has revealed that he doesn't know how much money he will be given by the owners, but has brushed off the idea that this is an early concern ahead of starting his role on June 1.

'I don't have a budget yet... (laughs). Seriously, transfers are always complicated,' Schmadtke told Sport1.

'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.'

This summer promises to be a crucial one for Liverpool as they look to bounce back from a disappointing campaign that saw them finish outside the Champions League places.

Schmadtke looks set to have a big role to play in improving the squad, but he has insisted it will be manager Jurgen Klopp that has the final say when it comes to transfers.

'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. Jurgen Klopp sets the priorities,' he added.

'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.'

Schmadtke has impressed behind the scenes at a number of German clubs during his career, while Klopp is very familiar with the Bundesliga after having successful spells at Mainz and Borussia Dortmund.

But Schmadtke has played down the idea that his relationship with Klopp helped him land his latest role.

'We're not that close to each other,' Schmadtke said when discussing his relationship with Klopp.

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