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Liverpool’s new £50million state-of-the-art training complex at the Kirkby Academy has moved a step closer after Knowsley Council’s cabinet tonight agreed the sale of land to the club.

The Reds will purchase 14 acres on Simonswood Lane for a fee of £160,000 in order to expand the size of the current facility to around 60 acres.

The plans received planning permission back in September and building work is expected to start this summer.

Owners Fenway Sports Group are backing Jurgen Klopp’s vision of having the first-team and youth set-ups together on one site as the Reds prepare to leave their historic Melwood home in West Derby.

Knowsley Council insist £160,000 is the land’s market value for such a sporting development.

Liverpool are also making a significant investment in improving sports facilities for the local community. This includes new football pitches, new changing rooms, enhanced landscaping and tree planting, safe pedestrian, dog walking and cycle paths, as well as car parking.

“The specific valuation of this land is based upon its intended use after the proposed sale as a sports facility,” a Knowsley Council statement read.

“The sale of land for other purposes, such as housing, might have resulted in a greater valuation, but the land is being sold only as a sports facility. A legal covenant will be put in place to ensure that the land cannot be used for any other purpose.”

The council stated that the final figure of Liverpool’s investment would “only be known when the contracts for all of the required works have been agreed and signed”. The facilities will be owned by the council and used by the local community, including AFC Kirkby.

They also revealed that renting the land to Liverpool wasn’t an option as the club “already owns its existing training facility in Kirkby and wants to do the same with the redeveloped facility.”