If pre-season is an opportunity for fans to get a closer glimpse of lesser-known players in the Liverpool ranks, the same can also be said of the coaching staff.
While those at first-team level often gather updates from Vitor Matos - Liverpool's elite-development coach, who acts as a conduit between the academy and senior departments - the summer schedule is often a chance for some of the younger members of the set-up to show Jurgen Klopp what they can really do up close.
Three years ago, for example, Billy Koumetio shot to prominence in the eyes of Klopp after being taken as part of a pre-season contingent that flew to Austria ahead of the 2020/21 campaign.
After signing a contract as a then 17-year-old, Koumetio was whisked off to Saafelden to be part of the senior side that were put through their paces ahead of the Premier League campaign, replacing Sepp van den Berg for a 3-0 friendly win over Stuttgart.
After impressing Klopp, Koumetio was given a taste of life at first-team level when he made his official debut as a substitute in a Champions League draw with FC Midtjylland in December of 2020.
In more recent years, players like Luke Chambers, Bobby Clark and James Norris have been given minutes in pre or mid-season friendlies for the Reds.
"The players are fed information and that all comes from the top with Jurgen and Peter (Krawietz) and Pep (Lijnders)," one source has previously told the ECHO about the use of young players on pre-season tours. "That helps all the young players to make steps. And we try to help as the players do.
"We never like putting pressure on boys though, let's help them make the next step and hopefully the game will show them what they are doing. That is it.
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"The senior players give them information in the same way the coaches do to improve them and we just try to help them make the next step and that is the same for all the coaches."
Ahead of Liverpool's pre-season trip to Germany next month, the ECHO assesses the merits of four younger players within the system at Liverpool who will have the chance to show Klopp what they are capable of.
Stefan Bajcetic
Such has been Bajcetic's performances during his time with the senior team that he will head into the summer schedule safe in the knowledge that he is considered a first-team member going forward.
The 18-year-old made as many 19 appearances in total last term, including 11 in the Premier League as he grasped his opportunity with both hands during a mid-season midfield crisis.
Bajcetic's form was sufficient enough for him to be upgraded from the academy pages to the senior list on the club's official website and another season of progression is expected from a player who has risen sharply since he joined in January 2021 from Celta Vigo at the age of 16.
While the dearth of fit and in-form midfielders led to the door initially being opened for Bajcetic around February time, his over-exposure at that level eventually caused him to break down as he suffered a season-ending injury in mid-March.
'A man in a boy's body,' was how Klopp referred to Bajcetic who will be used more sparingly next season once an expected midfield rebuild is complete.
Liverpool are confident of having Bajcetic with them when they take to the skies this pre-season, with Klopp saying last month: “I hope that he can come with us to the training camp [in mid-July] and he can do these bits, and from then on progress and he should be fine for the start of the season.
“But how it is with these kinds of injuries, there’s no real timeline, [it’s not] that you say after six weeks or whatever the ligament is healed and from there we can go."
Bajcetic will most certainly be considered a first-team player going forward but that won't make the need to impress any less important for the teenager as he looks to take yet another giant stride forward at Anfield. If anything, it perhaps only increases the pressure to perform.
Conor Bradley
The youngster with the most to gain from a strong summer is Conor Bradley, who returns from a hugely successful loan stint with Bolton Wanderers.
The Northern Ireland international was outstanding in Bolton's EFL Trophy triumph over Plymouth Argyle at Wembley in April and generally enjoyed a superb year with the Trotters.
Bradley featured as many as 53 times for Bolton and climbed into double figures for assists as a marauding right-back; something which has been en vogue at Liverpool in recent years.
“It was an unreal season, it was everything I wished for and more," Bradley said recently. “To play that many games, that is what I wanted to go and do. It has toughened me up a bit and it was vital for me.
"In the summer I will go back to pre-season with Liverpool and I just have to see how that will go. The future [depends] on that, but I am looking forward to getting back to Liverpool."
Bradley already has five senior appearances to his name but will no doubt look to profit from the uncertainty around the right-back role, presently. Calvin Ramsay has joined Preston North End on loan, James Milner has left the club and Klopp may look to utilise Trent Alexander-Arnold as an out-and-out midfielder at times, so opportunity knocks for Bradley.
"Our plans are, bring him back, go in the pre-season and then enjoy the steps he made, then we will decide together what we are doing from that moment on," Klopp said in late April.
"The plans are in the moment, bring him back and keep him, but we will see that. Everybody speaks positively about him. I think one-and-a-half years ago only a few football nerds would have known about him and now everybody knows him.
"That’s cool and that’s the first step. He is our boy, which I like a lot. A super mentality, which is extremely helpful, and all the rest will come – and we are all pretty sure about that. Conor will be our player, but how it is in that age group, we have to see if it makes more sense for him going on loan after pre-season or not. We will decide that then and not now."
Tyler Morton
If Bajcetic is already assured of game-time at some stage at Liverpool next season, such a prospect is not guaranteed for Tyler Morton, who returns after an excellent year with Blackburn Rovers in the Championship.
The Wirral-born youngster has nine appearances to his name under Klopp that includes Champions League and Premier League experience but with a midfield overhaul expected - one that has already started following the arrival of Alexis Mac Allister - Morton will need to be outstanding during the summer to force his way up the pecking order.
That is not beyond the realms of possibility, though, with Morton already displaying an interesting blend of technique and vision during his fledgling career to date.
"By the way, Tyler Morton in training, incredible! He plays as a No. 8 now,” Klopp said last summer. “We don’t force him to play as a controlling No. 6 in a Premier League game. He’s training as an eight, and it’s like ‘wow, how good is that?!’ He’s still here."
With Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Arhur Melo joining Milner in leaving the club at the end of the season, chances may yet arise for Morton next term if he can convince in the coming couple of months. A lot likely depends on the amount of midfield reinforcements, however.
Ben Doak
Doak was one of the quiet success stories of last season at Liverpool. Having starred for the Under-21s' team - notably during their UEFA Youth League campaign - the teenage winger was given his senior debut in the penalty-shootout win over Derby County in the Carabao Cup back in November.
Premier League minutes followed on Boxing Day at Aston Villa where the fearless teenager showed a clean pair of heels to Lucas Digne with a wonderful turn in a 3-1 win. Two more substitute cameos followed against Wolves either side of a run-out at Brighton and while there are understandably high hopes for the former Celtic teen, demands will be carefully managed.
With Mohamed Salah the undisputed first choice on the right side of the attack, there is no pressure on Doak to challenge one of the true stars of the world game but exciting cameos in the summer games will be welcomed.
"Ben Doak, obviously nice signs, he’s with us in training again," Klopp said last month. "Special boy, really confident, has something nobody else delivers really, this kind of dribbling, this kind of straight-forward bravery, all these kinds of things."
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