Liverpool have accomplished the signing of Japan worldwide Wataru Endu from Stuttgart after lacking out on their different targets. With perception from Endo’s former coaching associate at Stuttgart, Adam Bate appears to be like at what made Jurgen Klopp flip to the midfielder…

The circumstances behind the signing of Wataru Endo may need had some Liverpool supporters involved. The failed pursuits of each Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia have left Jurgen Klopp wanting choices in midfield and turning to the 30-year-old Endo may very well be seen as a desperation transfer.

Stuttgart’s now former captain isn’t a younger expertise to excite within the mould of these different names. But given the departures of Fabinho, Jordan Henderson and James Milner, this acquisition may be one of many smarter bits of enterprise that Liverpool might have executed.

He is a dependable performer, who might be decided to grab this chance, an knowledgeable within the holding position who can contribute to each the defensive and offensive part of the sport. There are not any query marks over his character – simply ask those that know him.

‘He is a very nice participant’

It was the ultimate query for Bundesliga legend Mario Gomez as he sat down with a gaggle of worldwide journalists on the Allianz Arena on Saturday night. Japanese reporter Daisuke Ishii requested about Endo, the previous striker’s outdated team-mate at Stuttgart.

Gomez had already mentioned every thing from Germany’s issues to his personal Spanish roots, however his eyes lit up on the point out of Endo. “I love Wataru, to be honest.” It was he who had pushed for the participant’s inclusion when each discovered themselves out of the crew.

“Wataru sat next to me in the dressing room and had a really hard time because the coach did not use him at the beginning.” In 2020, Gomez was within the last season of his profession and had adjusted to his personal state of affairs, a mentor to the squad. “I was happy with this role.”

Endo, in his prime, was extra annoyed. “I was always telling him just to keep calm, keep doing what he was doing because he did amazing in training.” So superb, in truth, that it grew to become a operating theme of the classes than Gomez would pair up with Endo.

“After the game we had the four against four,” Gomez explains. “When I came into the dressing room, I was always telling the coach to put me in the same team as Wataru because then we will never lose. This is how it started. I was just pushing him a lot.

“At a sure level, the coach used him. And then it’s not me, it’s concerning the participant, as a result of he performed incredible. That is why he’s taking part in not as a result of I advised the coach that he’s nice. It is as a result of he’s a very nice participant. Now, he’s the captain of his crew.”

Gomez regards Endo as an “example of how team sport should look” due to his angle – somebody who’s “always giving everything for the group”. He admires his serenity in coping along with his younger youngsters. “I have three and I am struggling. He is just never stressed.”

But simply as his performances in these four-against-four video games in coaching would recommend, that is about greater than his good character, extra even than the flexibility that might see him fill in on the again in addition to in midfield for Liverpool. Endo has the standard to succeed too.

Endo’s spectacular statistics

Klopp will relish his combative strategy. This is a participant who ranked sixth final season for duels gained within the Bundesliga. In the previous three seasons, he’s certainly one of solely three gamers to make 200 tackles, certainly one of solely two to win the ball again 400 occasions in the midst of the pitch.

Having deployed Alexis Mac Allister in that deeper position on the opening weekend and missed out on each Caicedo and Lavia to Chelsea, Liverpool’s want for a defensive-minded midfielder is apparent. Endo has proven in his lengthy profession that he can do this job.

What makes him a very attention-grabbing proposition, maybe what persuaded Klopp to make the transfer, is that his in-possession sport is sweet sufficient to thrive within the Premier League too. Like these different targets, Endo might be way more than a mere destroyer.

His passing statistics are stable and there may be creativity there too. Remarkably, there have been solely 4 gamers – Jamal Musiala, Dominik Szoboszlai, Moussa Diaby and Raphael Guerreiro – who created extra probabilities from open play than Endo within the Bundesliga final season.

He can get ahead to press and to go, important even for the extra defensive gamers in a Klopp crew. Endo gained the ball again 22 occasions within the last third final season and scored twice from Stuttgart counter-attacks. He even scored three objectives from outdoors the field.

That he ranks so extremely on so many metrics owes a lot to the truth that he has been a digital ever-present for his membership since Gomez made his case again in 2020. In truth, no participant within the Bundesliga has began extra video games than Endo over the previous three seasons.

But then that’s the type of robustness that Klopp would require, notably after being burned by the Arthur Melo expertise – not the identify of a jazz band however the injury-prone Brazilian loaned from Juventus final season who didn’t play a Premier League minute.

Endo is a safer wager. And if he does discover himself kicking his heels instead, the message to his new Liverpool team-mates might be clear. Just ensure he’s first choose for that small-sided sport in coaching afterwards. He is not going to keep on the bench for lengthy.