Liverpool have already signed player who can justify Andre transfer stance

Wataru Endo is in line to start back-to-back matches for Liverpool for the first time against Toulouse and Brentford

André is reportedly no longer on Liverpool’s transfer radar. (Image: Buda Mendes/Getty Images)

Eyebrows were raised when Liverpool signed Wataru Endo from VfB Stuttgart this summer.

Having sold Fabinho and Jordan Henderson following unexpected interest from Saudi Arabia, the Reds had moved for Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia. But despite a club-record £111m bid and final improved £60m bid respectively, Liverpool missed out on both players to Chelsea.

The Reds would respond by signing Endo in a £16.2m deal. Yet having started just one Premier League match to date, the jury remains out on the 30-year-old Japan international three months into his Anfield career.

Utilised mainly as a rotational option in the Europa League and League Cup, Alexis Mac Allister has instead predominantly been stationed as Liverpool’s holding midfielder at his expense. Consequently, onlookers had expected the Reds to add to their midfield further in January, with the at times unconvincing Argentina international moved forward into his preferred number eight role and Endo remaining as back-up.

Yet club sources have since dismissed that possibility. Despite reports linking Liverpool with a mid-season move for Fluminense midfielder Andre Trindade, following an initial summer enquiry, Reds insiders insist that the club have no immediate plans to bolster their midfield further in January following a recent £150m overhaul.

While such a stance is in part because the club are keen not to block the path of Stefan Bajcetic once the Spaniard returns from long-term injury, supporters will be left perplexed at Liverpool’s decision. After all, they lack a world class first-choice option following Fabinho’s summer exit.

Granted, the Brazilian was on the decline last season but for four years as the Reds won every major trophy on offer to them, he was one of the best in the business.

Mac Allister remains an unnatural answer, despite Liverpool’s persistence using him deeper, and while Bajcetic could emerge and make the position his own, the young Spaniard is still only 19 and has made just two appearances since March before suffering a fresh injury setback. With Klopp pointing out the teenager is still physically just a boy rather than a man, he is not in a position where he can be relied on just yet.

As for Endo, even if he wasn’t enduring a slow start to life at Anfield, the 30-year-old would appear to not be a long-term solution. But that doesn’t mean he’s a stop-gap either.

“Players need time. We forget that. With Endo, just because of the age people think, ‘Why is he not like that?’” Klopp said of the Japanese last week.

“He is a different character to the other boys and you can see the steps he is making. He has another five years of top football in his legs.

“He has a lot of potential and he never played on this level before but now consistently I am really happy with him.”

Endo is likely to start at holding midfield again for Liverpool on Thursday as they travel to Toulouse in the Europa League. Meanwhile, with Mac Allister suspended for Brentford’s trip to Anfield on Sunday, the 30-year-old is well-placed to retain the position and make his second Premier League start.

After that clash with the Bees, it’s the November international break. Waiting after it, a daunting trip to Premier League leaders and reigning champions Man City. Such a game might be over two weeks away, but supporters are already starting to grow anxious about their midfield set-up for such an encounter.

But should Endo impress in these next two matches, proving himself to be more than just a squad option, they will at least feel a little more at ease.

Liverpool needed a new holding midfielder in the summer and while they asked after Caicedo, Lavia, and Andre, Endo is the player they ended up signing. The club seemingly considers such a vacancy filled, with Klopp adamant the former Stuttgart man still has ‘another five years of top football in his legs’.

Supporters had hoped to see their club sign Andre in January, though in truth any talented holding midfielder in-line with the club’s traditional transfer model would have satisfied such desires. Not fulfilling such a profile himself, Endo has inevitably been overlooked.

But with the Japanese now set to be granted a starting role in back-to-back matches as club sources quash the possibility of a further midfield signing at Anfield, he has the opportunity to justify the Reds’ questionable January transfer stance.

Liverpool needed a new holding midfielder after selling Fabinho, there is no doubt about that. And while Mac Allister has filled such a role so far this season, Endo could be about to remind onlookers that the Reds have actually already signed that man.