Liverpool is poised to sign Wataru Endo from Stuttgart after agreeing a $20m (£16m/€19m) deal, according to reports.
The Athletic’s David Ornstein says Endo is due to have a medical on Thursday after being granted permission to jet into Merseyside.
Endo is the captain of both Stuttgart and the Japanese national team, and that means, fitness-depending, he’s virtually nailed-on to feature in his side’s Asian Cup squad.
That could take Endo, who has amassed 50 caps for his country to date and started three of its four games at last year’s World Cup, away from Anfield for a number of weeks at the turn of the year.
This edition of the Asian Cup was originally due to be held in China this summer but had to be moved because of the country’s Covid-19 policy.
Qatar subsequently won hosting rights, and that meant the tournament was shifted to a winter slot to avoid excessive temperatures, much like the World Cup.
It will now take place between January 12 and February 10, with a full breakdown of the round dates below.
Japan, which has been drawn in Group C alongside Indonesia, Iraq and Vietnam, will be one of the favorites after coming through qualifying with an eight-out-of-eight record and reaching the knockout stages of the World Cup. It has won the quadrennial competition four times overall, most recently in 2011.
Endo should be able to take part in Liverpool’s third-round FA Cup tie on the weekend of January 6, but is guaranteed to miss the Premier League trip to Bournemouth, currently slated for January 13, if he’s called up. He would also be ruled out of the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg (week beginning January 22), should the Reds make it that far.
Depending on Japan’s progress, the 30-year-old could also be unavailable for an FA Cup fourth-round tie (weekend of January 27) and the Premier League games against Chelsea (January 31), Arsenal (February 3) and Burnley (February 10).
If Liverpool finishes second in its Europa League group, it will face a knockout round playoff against a third-place Champions League side, with the first leg on February 15, and Endo should be back by then, or at the very least the league game at Brentford on February 17.
