Michael Edwards transfer network remains intact as Liverpool monitor next Red Bull recruits

Having wrapped up a successful tour of the Far East, the hard work really begins for Liverpool's players this week.

While the trips to Thailand and Singapore were viewed as valuable opportunities for growth in the region from a business or 'brand' perspective, it is always the European leg of the pre-season activities that are of most use on the pitch.

While the friendlies with Manchester United and Crystal Palace were good exercises in building up the fitness ahead of another long and arduous season, it is the work back in Europe that is designed to really hold Liverpool steady for the following year.

Up next then for the Reds, as their efforts to get themselves in peak shape for the big curtain raiser with Fulham on August 6, are games with RB Leipzig and Red Bull Salzburg before attention turns to the Community Shield on July 30 against Manchester City.

First in the Red Bull double-header is a meeting with Leipzig in Germany on Thursday evening before a return to Austria six days later. It's a relationship with the Red Bull football group that has grown close in recent years during Jurgen Klopp's time in charge.

Perhaps the first real noted example of this bond came when Liverpool were looking to bring Keita to Anfield in the summer of 2017. Two bids were rejected by Leipzig for the Guinea midfielder before an unusual deal was struck in August of that year that would see Keita move the following season with a premium placed on wherever the Bundesliga side finished that coming campaign.

It was a transfer that was most unlike anything that had been agreed before at Anfield, particularly given the sums involved. They would eventually pay £52m for Keita to make him the third most expensive player of all time at the