Harry Redknapp has claimed one Liverpool player has been the ‘signing of the season’ and ‘shows that there’s still some bargains out there’.
Wataru Endo threw in a man of the match performance as the Reds drew 1-1 with Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday as he dominated the middle of the park against the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva.
The Japan international, who was signed from Stuttgart in the summer for just £16m, is already a huge favourite amongst Kopites and Redknapp believes Liverpool’s scouts deserve credit for finding the dynamic midfielder.
“Endo might just be the signing of the season,” the former Premier League manager told Betvictor (via Liverpool World), as he published his ‘Team of the Week’.
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“I thought he was brilliant against Manchester City, this boy just never stops running! He looks like he’s been in this side for years. Every credit to the Liverpool scouts for finding this lad and taking a chance on him and every credit to him for making the most of it. It just shows that there’s still some bargains out there, you’ve just got to have an eye for a player.”
Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai, who were signed alongside Endo in the summer window, have also hit the ground running on Merseyside but our No.3 has surprised so many supporters.
It’s fair to say that almost nobody had heard of the 31-year-old before he made the switch to Anfield but he’s now an integral part of Jurgen Klopp’s side.
The intensity he provides on the pitch with his tough tackling and reading of the game is exceptional and it’s no coincidence that we’re still challenging on all fronts with him performing at his best.
Mac Allister can also be in with a shout for signing of the season but not many can argue with Redknapp’s comments!
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“It’s fair to say that almost nobody had heard of the 31-year-old before he made the switch to Anfield”
Oh for goodness sake! Can we put this “never heard of him” narrative to bed … Please? It only reinforces the view for people outside the UK that EPL fans know F###all about football beyond the borders of little Englund.
Nobody’s ever heard of him? Crikey mate! I can think of at least 26 Germans and 26 Spaniards who have his name imprinted permanently on their memories! Certainly everyone in Japan and Stutgart — football fan or not — had heard of him. Nearly every football fan in Asia and Germany knew of him.
Its probably accurate to say that Endo was “not a star player” before his move to Anfield. Id argue that he isnt one now. Endo is, and always will be, a TEAM player, not an individual player. Every great team needs at least one or two players who are willing to do all the hard, unrewarding work to carry water and put out fires in midfield. Endo is the Erling Haaland of watercarriers – always making the run into space even if it is just a dummy; always rushing to offer an outlet; always the first to dash back and contain the counter; always shoving his nose in to disrupt opposition passes . . .
The point is, ANYone who sees him play for any length of time (and that would include Klopp) knows his value. He can be both the least “visible” and yet simultaneously the most “important” guy on the pitch. You dont get selected to CAPTAIN a Bundesliga club if youre just a duffer. You have to earn the trust and confidence of everyone on the team. Endo did that not only for a star-studded Japan squad, but for a BUNDESLIGA team. And Endo has only been speaking German for about 6 years!
So please . . . for the sake of your own credibility with worldwide readers (and just FYI, I was a Reds fan when Kenny Dalglish was still a curlytopped kid in East Glasgow), stop with this ridiculous line about how “nobody” had heard of Endo before Liverpool “discovered” him.
Even Tony Bloom knows better than to claim that highly-regarded Japanese players “come out of nowhere”