Endo joins Liverpool, but who is he?

In light of the Merseyside club missing out on both Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia, Liverpool are on track to complete the unexpected signing of Stuttgart midfielder Wataru Endo, but who is he?

Wataru Endo for Stuttgart

Endo began his professional career with Shonan Bellmare in 2011 before playing for Sint-Truiden up until 2019. From here the player developed and went to Stuttgart for a reported fee of £1.6m.

Throughout his professional career, the player has made over 400 appearances, many of which have been at international level where he is the captain of the Japanese side. More importantly for Liverpool though, the player boasts some incredible defensive statistics which are similar to that of Moises Caicedo.

BLUE = Endo | RED = Moises Caicedo

From Jurgen Klopp’s perspective as well, the German manager has been keen to recruit a mercenary to fill the void which James Milner left behind, and Endo is exactly that. He can come on and slow the game down, help teams see matches out as well as being incredibly versatile. The Japanese man can play as a defensive midfielder, central midfielder, centre back and even a right back.

While the £19 million price tag seems steep, in this current market for a player who is so professional and looked upon so highly by his teammates it is easy to understand why Liverpool see Endo as someone who can help take them forward.

In addition, his recent injury record is second to none. During his 4 years at Stuttgart, the player only missed 2 games, both of which were caused by things out of his control – with 1 as a result of a concussion and the other because the player fell ill with coronavirus.

The player is undergoing medical today with the expectation of having him in the squad for Liverpool’s home game against Bournemouth this coming Saturday, according to David Lynch.