Earlier this week, Takumi Minamino became the first Japanese player to ever sign for Liverpool.
Whilst that may earn the Reds some new fans in the Far East, his arrival is down to footballing reasons rather than commercial ones. So far this campaingn, he has nine goals and 11 assists in 22 matches for RB Salzburg, and the Merseyside outfit saw first-hand just how much of a menace he can be – he actually scored against them in the Champions League at Anfield during the group stage.
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It is a transfer that has been completed well ahead of the transfer window, as well, and it has not taken too long for it to be signed off. The first rumours of this deal only appeared to emerge after Liverpool’s match against the Austrian side at the Red Bull Arena, and a week later he was holding up his new team’s jersey.
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Talking about the transfer to the club’s official website, Jurgen Klopp was quick to praise Michael Edwards for pulling this transfer off. He was quite right to give him credit for securing this deal, as well. By having it done so early, it allows Minamino to join his new teammates right from the first of January – with Salzburg now not playing again for two months, he may even be able to start training as soon as Liverpool return from their Club World Cup commitments in Qatar – and that means he should be able to hit the ground running.
The sporting director is now gaining a reputation of someone who gets his business done early since taking up the role in 2016. Virgil van Dijk’s and Naby Keita’s purchases, for example, are a testament to that. Both of those arrivals were confirmed before the transfer window in which they would move had opened. In the latter’s case, he even stayed one more season with RB Leipzig before switching to the Premier League. The signings of Mohamed Salah, Alisson, Fabinho and Andy Robertson were all completed early as well. Only Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain came in towards the end of the transfer window.
It just goes to show how organised and well-run Liverpool are. You can see at other clubs, such as Arsenal – they completed two signings on deadline in the summer, for example – that a lack of planning can have a detrimental effect. There is no such danger of that at Liverpool, though. Long may it continue.
In other news, Liverpool are targeting this Serie A man.