Wataru Endo will be a big miss for Liverpool when he departs for the Asian Cup after the Reds’ meeting with Newcastle United on New Year’s Day.
Eyebrows were inevitably raised when Jurgen Klopp signed the lesser-known 30-year-old from VfB Stuttgart in a £16.2m deal back in August, after missing out on both Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia to Chelsea and losing both Jordan Henderson and Fabinho to unexpected interest from Saudi Arabia. A slow start to life in the Premier League did nothing to silence the scrutiny surrounding the Japan international.
Of course, Endo wasn’t the only midfielder feeling the pressure at Anfield, with question marks also hanging over Alexis Mac Allister’s head as Klopp continued to utilise the Argentine as a holding midfielder. But since the November international break, both players have demonstrated the method in the madness.
Mac Allister put in an impressive performance at number six away at Man City five weeks ago as Liverpool fought out a 1-1 draw at the Etihad, before scoring a spectacular maiden goal for the Reds the following week in a rollercoaster 4-3 victory over Fulham. Finding his feet in a previously unfamiliar position, a leg injury suffered against Sheffield United then stopped the 25-year-old in his tracks, though he could return against Newcastle after making a comeback in team training earlier this week.
But in the World Cup winner’s absence, Endo has shone in recent weeks. Also scoring his first Premier League goal for Liverpool against the Cottagers, he has since started the Reds’ last seven matches and continued to put in increasingly eye-catching displays, with his showing in a 1-1 draw at home to Arsenal arguably the most impressive.
While the jury still remains out on whether or not Klopp’s squad requires more at number six, their situation looks a lot healthier than it did a few months ago. Both Mac Allister and Endo are growing into the role, Trent Alexander-Arnold continues to emerge as a genuine midfield option, while Thiago Alcantara and Stefan Bajcetic are due back from long-term injury at some point in the new year.
Such has been Endo’s form in recent weeks, his absence will certainly be felt when he departs for the Asian Cup. Getting underway in Qatar on January 12, the final takes place on February 10 with the midfielder potentially missing up to seven matches for the Reds, if not more depending on FA Cup progress, with such a run including the League Cup semi-finals against Fulham and crucial Premier League clashes with Chelsea and Arsenal.
Mac Allister’s return to team training, with Thiago not too far behind, at least softens the blow for Klopp and Liverpool. And given how their chaotic summer transfer window unfolded, eventually resulting in that unexpected swoop for Endo after unsuccessful scrambles for Caicedo and Lavia, the Reds’ successful first half of the season, which sees them sit top of the Premier League table, does feel slightly surreal. Few would have foreseen it, especially after last year’s transitional struggles.
Klopp would make light of the club’s summer transfer window earlier this month when speaking at a test event for the new Anfield Road stand, entertaining the crowd with light-hearted digs at Chelsea and Liverpool’s former targets.
“In the summer, the summer we had when a few strange things happened in the transfer market,” he recalled. “But here between us, I can say my God were we lucky, eh?
“We didn’t know that in the moment, it didn’t feel like it in that moment. But, meh. I’m really happy that it worked out like that.
“You never know before, but I had a really good feeling before we started pre-season. Clear we had two already with Macca (Alexis Mac Allister) and Dom (Dominik Szoboszlai) in, and we knew there was a chance for Ryan (Gravenberch).
“Then we obviously realised other central defensive midfielders don’t want to join Liverpool (laughs). You see what happens!
“And then we found (Wataru) Endo. He’s an exceptional player, he is, absolutely. He’s 30 years old and an experienced captain of Japan. It’s not possible to be the first pick because the transfer market is not like that. We don’t go for a 30-year-old player who plays in Germany and nearly got relegated.
“Thank God we looked about things twice and had another look. Then it was clear we wanted this boy, and he wanted to come, definitely, and that helps…”
Inevitably, Klopp’s comments made headlines as supporters took great delight in his tongue-in-cheek mocking of Caicedo in particular. After all, Liverpool had seen a club-record £111m bid accepted by Brighton & Hove Albion for the Ecuadorian, only for the midfielder to then make clear he was only interested in joining Chelsea despite previous suggestions otherwise as the Reds looked to book in a medical.
Kopites have inevitably enjoyed the Londoners and Caicedo’s struggles so far this season, with Chelsea currently 14 points behind the Reds in 10th in the table. Meanwhile, the Ecuadorian has struggled to replicate his eye-catching Brighton form at Stamford Bridge. But that doesn’t mean Liverpool would have been worse off had they actually been successful in signing the 22-year-old.
Yet, all jokes aside from Klopp, the Reds can be grateful that they missed out on Lavia.
Liverpool had seen a number of bids rejected by Southampton for the Belgian, privately insisting that the 19-year-old was not worth the £50m+ the Saints were demanding. Then moving for Caicedo instead, it was only when he snubbed their advances that Liverpool reluctantly agreed to meet the South Coast club’s demands with a £60m offer. Yet by this point, Lavia was on the verge of a £58m move to Chelsea with his own mind made up.
Four months on and the midfielder has endured a miserable start to his Chelsea career. Left out of Mauricio Pochettino’s matchday squad for the Londoners’ first four matches after his arrival, instead looking to build up fitness behind the scenes following a disjointed pre-season, he then suffered a serious ankle injury in training in September.
But while Lavia returned to training earlier this month, and was handed a belated Chelsea debut off the bench in midweek against Crystal Palace, he now finds himself sidelined once more after just one 32-minute outing.
