Jurgen Klopp has called Wataru Endo a ‘machine on the pitch’ after Liverpool completed the signing of the Japanese midfielder from Stuttgart.
Liverpool have confirmed the arrival of the 30-year-old for a fee in the region of €19m, with Endo set to reinforce the Reds depleted defensive midfield options.
Klopp has given his view on the new recruit and believes Endo has all the attributes to be a success in the Premier League.
“I’m really happy. Wataru is a really good player,” Klopp told the club’s official website.
“I know in this world of football how it goes and stuff like this, but have a look, have a look, because he’s a really good player. Experienced player, captain of Stuttgart, captain of Japan, speaks good English, nice fella, family man, machine on the pitch, good footballer on top of that, sensational attitude. So, I’m really happy. He’s a good footballer, very experienced and loves to work extremely hard.”
Liverpool’s move for Endo came after failed approaches for Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia, but Klopp insists the Japan captain was ‘always on his list’ of potential targets and believes the midfielder can add valuable experience to his squad.
“Absolutely. Again, in our club usually that’s the situation… if he’s not 30, firstly, I am not sure we get him. Second, he was always on my list, just usually we don’t sign players of this age group.
“He is obviously a top fit and we will have a lot of fun with him. I’m really sure he can help us immediately, which is super-cool because the season already started. So, he will show how good he is on the pitch and I can’t wait to have him around.”
