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Liverpool is "set to transform the Kirkby Academy into a state-of-the-art training complex for both the first team and youth set-ups," according to James Pearce of the LIVERPOOL ECHO. The "ambitious" £50M ($62.4M) project will see the Reds move away from their "historic" home of Melwood, which has been the club's training base since the '50s. Manager Jürgen Klopp has been "the driving force behind the decision to amalgamate the club's two training facilities" and owners Fenway Sports Group committed the funds to "make his dream a reality." Liverpool reached an agreement with Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council over the "scope of work and funding." Heads of terms will be finalized "once a public consultation period is completed." Liverpool intends to purchase 14 acres of land at Simonswood Playing Fields "at the rear of the Academy in order to expand the size of the current site in Kirkby to around 60 acres." The plans have been drawn up by London-based architecture group KSS, which designed Anfield's new Main Stand. As part of the scheme, Liverpool will "upgrade the remaining community football pitches nearby and build new changing facilities and a car park." Work "would be completed by" the summer of '19, with Liverpool's first-team squad making the switch to Kirkby for preseason training ahead of the '19-20 season. The Reds' move would be accompanied by the sale of Melwood in West Derby (
LIVERPOOL ECHO, 2/21).