Graeme Souness has admitted he has doubts about whether Wataru Endo will be able to cope with the intensity of the Premier League following his summer move from Stuttgart.
The Japan international was a huge favourite at the Bundesliga outfit and achieved one of his dreams by completing a £16m move (BBC Sport) to Anfield last month.
The Liverpool legend, however, has been impressed with how Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister have hit the ground running but has urged Jurgen Klopp to find a replacement for Joel Matip who ‘can’t keep himself fit’ as well as adding another addition in the engine room.
“I like Szoboszlai and I am a big fan of Mac Allister,” Souness told The Mirror (via Liverpool Echo). “With Endo, we will wait and see. Getting good reviews playing in the Bundesliga doesn’t mean you will be a success in the Premier League, which is very demanding and the intensity is greater there than anywhere else. Let’s see how he deals with that.
Deadline day signing Ryan Gravenberch is yet to feature for the club since his move from Bayern Munich but instead of linking up with the Netherlands U21 squad the former Ajax man has opted to remain on Merseyside to help become accustomed to his new surroundings.
We can understand where Souness is coming from but our midfield is now stacked with plenty of quality while Mac Allister, Endo, Thiago Alcantara and Stefan Bajcetic all have the ability to operate in the deep-lying role.
We believe the business the club completed was very impressive.
To spend just over £145m on four new players in today’s market, including a World Cup winner, is quality business.
Liverpool supporters were calling out for a new central defender to be signed to improve our depth in that area but no move ever materialised despite links with numerous players.
It remains to be seen what Klopp’s plans are for the January window but we’ll just have to wait and see and hope we’re still in contention on all four fronts at the time.
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