Wataru Endo’s time at Liverpool could be coming to an end with the midfielder not part of Arne Slot’s long term plans according to The Athletic’s Andy Jones.
Endo joined Liverpool from Bundesliga outfit Stuttgart last summer in a deal worth in the region of £15m and was expected to be a squad player for the Reds.
The 31-year-old actually ended up featuring regularly under Jurgen Klopp and played a key role as they qualified for the Champions League.
Endo not part of Slot’s plans
However, after making 43 appearances in all competitions last season, with 29 of those coming in the Premier League Endo finds himself in a different position this season.
The midfielder is yet to start a game under Slot and has played just one minute of football in the Premier League, whilst he also came on for one minute in the Champions League win against AC Milan on Tuesday night.
Slot has preferred using other options to the Japan international and Jones believes there are already very telling signs that the Dutchman doesn’t want Endo as part of his long term plans, having featured sparingly in pre-season and the start of the campaign.
“I think we’ve seen in pre-season, and Slot’s lack of usage of him and the fact that ultimately, Liverpool decided to recruit a number six as well, that he doesn’t appear to be part of Liverpool’s long term plans,” he told The Athletic’s Walk On podcast.
“I think in terms of this year, now that you’ve got him, I think that role of maybe not starting games but to do sort of the final 20 minutes, the final 15 minutes of a game when hopefully Liverpool are quite comfortable to be able to bring him on and shore things up.
“He can keep the ball ticking, he can do the simple stuff, he just isn’t really that progressive passer, that’s the problem.”
Ryan Gravenberch , Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones have all been preferred by Slot and with Harvey Elliott still to return from injury, Endo will be pushed even further down the pecking order.
It’s no secret Liverpool are looking for a number six having failed to land Martin Zubimendi this summer and it seems the writing is already on the wall for Endo despite only being at the club for a short period of time.