Takumi Minamino scored a rare Premier League goal for Liverpool this afternoon.
The Japan international scored the final goal in a 3-0 victory over Brentford at Anfield.
In doing so, Minamino bagged for only the third time for the Merseysiders in this competition.
As tempting as it is to believe this strike could lead to him finally becoming a major player under Jurgen Klopp, he should be considering a departure instead.
That’s because before a ball was kicked today, the Liverpool manager showed Minamino what he thinks of him more or less.
Instead of starting the former Salzburg attacker, Klopp elected to include Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in his starting lineup instead.
And it’s important to note that between Oxlade-Chamberlain’s arrival in 2017 to now, he has almost exclusively been used in a midfield role.
Time to go
However, against Brentford, the Liverpool boss deployed him out wide and when a midfielder is playing ahead of you as a winger, it’s ominous.
It’s worth noting that Oxlade-Chamberlain has a lot of experience out wide following a six-year spell at Arsenal previously.
But the fact that Klopp felt better about using the England international in this position over Minamino, having not played there since Arsenal, spoke volumes.
Despite his strike, the Liverpool coach is never going to completely trust Minamino, who missed an open goal against Arsenal in the dying minutes on Thursday night.
And if that’s the case then long term, he simply has to start thinking about quitting Anfield. For good.
With Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah away at Africa Cup of Nations, Klopp won’t be selling any attacking players during the January transfer window.
But once the summer window opens, Minamino ought to seriously think about leaving.
Nothing is going to change between now and then.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
