Red Bull Salzburg’s Takumi Minamino is reportedly set to join Jurgen Klopp’s Premier League leaders Liverpool for a bargain £7.25m.
Liverpool have been keeping tabs on Takumi Minamino since 2013 when he was still making a name for himself in Japan, according to Goal.
Jurgen Klopp’s European Champions appear to be on the verge of their first January signing already.
The Guardian reports that the Reds are confident of signing the Red Bull Salzburg schemer on a five-year deal, thanks to an affordable £7.25 million release clause in his contract.
A skilful attacking midfielder who has produced nine goals and 11 assists for the Austrian giants this season, Minamino scored at Anfield in a seven-goal Champions League thriller in October and caught the eye again as the two sides went head to head on Tuesday.
But Goal reports that the 24-year-old, who has been compared to Brazil superstar Neymar in his homeland, is not a new name on Liverpool’s radar.
Instead, it is claimed that the Merseyside giants started taking an interest in Minamino all of six years ago. Back then, he was a little-known youngster establishing himself in the Japanese top flight for Cerezo Osaka – the club who also produced former Manchester United and Dortmund play-maker Shinji Kagawa.
Interestingly, Goal adds that Liverpool’s players were so impressed by Minamino’s performance against them at Anfield two months ago that they implored the Reds bosses to bring the highly-rated star to Anfield.
This feels eerily similar to the way Manchester United’s stars asked Sir Alex Ferguson to sign a 17-year-old by the name of Cristiano Ronaldo to Old Trafford after he ripped them apart in a pre-season friendly back in 2003.
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