Premier League leaders Liverpool are reportedly set to add Red Bull Salzburg star Minamino to Jurgen Klopp’s squad after his Champions League heroics.
Liverpool might have just struck gold once again.
Less than 48 hours after Takumi Minamino lead Jurgen Klopp’s defence on a merry dance during Tuesday’s Champions League clash in Austria, one of Red Bull Salzburg’s fearsome front three appears to be on the verge of joining Mo Salah, Sadio Mane and co at Anfield.
Media outlets all over the UK are reporting that the Japan international is set to become the European champions’ first January addition. And, with a bargain £7.25 million release clause in his contract, Minamino already feels like another potentially inspired addition for a club who are the masters of snapping up exciting young talents teetering on the verge of superstardom.
With nine goals and 11 assists in just 22 games this season, following on from 14 and 10 in 2018/19, the statistics certainly suggest that the diminutive attacking midfielder has outgrown the rather small pond that is the Austrian Bundesliga.
In fact, those are numbers that Neymar would be proud to call his own. Minamino has been compared to the PSG superstar ever since bursting onto the scene in Japan with Cerezo Osaka years ago and, while the 24-year-old has been keen to play down expectations, comparisons with Brazil’s number ten don’t look a million miles wide of the mark today.
“Should I ever manage to get as good as him then I would gladly accept this praise,” Minamino told the club’s official website when signing for Salzburg four years ago.
If there is anyone who can turn the rising star of Asian football into a world class attacker like PSG’s precocious, preening number ten, it’s Jurgen Klopp.
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