Star Liverpool sold for £13m in ‘sparkling form’ as he wins Player of the Month

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Takumi Minamino’s post-Premier League revival continues with the former Liverpool benchwarmer named Ligue 1’s Player of the Month after an outstanding few weeks at Monaco. 

Speaking ahead of the Sunday’s 2-2 draw with FC Lorient, the Japan international laid the success of his new-found form at the feet new Monaco coach Adi Hutter. 

Takumi Minamino, signed in a £13 million deal from Liverpool in the summer of 2022, had been utilised out wide throughout much of a difficult debut season in the Principality. And it is no coincidence that, since being deployed in a more suitable, central role by Hutter, Minamino’s form – and his numbers – have come on leaps and bounds. 

Ex Liverpool ace Takumi Minamino in ‘sparkling’ form

“Last season was a difficult one for me,” the one-time Red Bull Salzburg ace tells the Ligue 1 website. 

“(Now, I am in) my preferred position. The one that gets the best out of me. It’s something very special. Our team has been playing positive football and we’re right at the top of the table!”

Thriving alongside Russian playmaker Aleksandr Golovin and benefitting from the movement of wily poacher Wissam Ben Yedder, Minamino has begun the new campaign with six goal contributions in just five games.  

Three goals, three assists; the Ligue 1 Player of the Month award for August a fitting reward for a man who started only one top-flight match in a frustrating final season at Liverpool. 

Ligue 1’s Player of the Month

“The Monaco forward has simply been sparkling!” France’s Union of Professional Footballers writes on Twitter, announcing that Minamino had snatched monthly gong from under the nose of Montpellier forward Musa Al-Taamari and big-money PSG signing Manuel Ugarte. 

“He becomes the second Japanese winner of the UNFP Player of the Month trophy after Daisuke Matsui during the 2005/06 season.” 

Sometimes, there are simple solutions to simple problems.

And if Hutter’s Monaco predecessor Niko Kovac could turn back the clock, it’s hard to imagine he’d have been quite so keen to shunt Minamino into an ill-fitting, back-firing wide role, knowing what he knows now.