Stuttgart are already in talks to sign a replacement for Wataru Endo as the Japan international closes in on a shock £15 million move to Premier League giants Liverpool.
After missing out on Romeo Lavia and Moises Caicedo, Jurgen Klopp is about to get his mitts on a tigerish, tough-tackling defensive midfielder who impressed with his work on and off the ball as his nation exceeded expectations at the Qatar World Cup.
And we are not talking about the Moroccan monster Sofyan Amrabat.
Liverpool, according to The Guardian, are closing in on a deal worth around £15 million for Stuttgart captain Wataru Endo.
Endo is much older than the typical Liverpool signing. He is over a decade Lavia’s senior. Avid Bundesliga watchers will tell you, however, that 30-year-old Endo should not be underestimated.
One of the most quietly effective performers anywhere in German football; it is hard to imagine Chelsea cutting through Liverpool’s paper-thin midfield with quite as much ease as they did on Sunday with Endo storming around the pitch and snapping into challenges.
Liverpool close in on Wataru Endo of Stuttgart
The Guardian adds that personal terms are not a problem between Endo and the Merseyside giants. Stuttgart are wasting no time targeting a replacement either. Sky Germany say that talks with Hoffenheim’s former Bayern Munich youngster Angelo Stiller are ‘ongoing’.
“As a player and as a person, he’s simply incredibly valuable,” former Stuttgart director Sven Mislintat told the Bundesliga website of a midfielder likened to the legendary Claude Makelele.
“He’s one of these anchors. A focal point in our system. Whether he plays as a centre-back or as a defensive midfielder, it’s good that he’s there and performs.”
A captain both on and off the pitch; Endo’s 92nd minute winner against Cologne on the final day of the 2021/22 Bundesliga season saved Stuttgart from the drop in the dying seconds.
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