Takumi Minamino didn’t even make the Liverpool bench against Norwich City on Saturday. But that actually explains why the Reds signed him when they did.
Liverpool reportedly paid £7.25m to RB Salzburg for Minamino in January. It was a bargain buy and one that made a lot of sense for Liverpool.
And yet, we haven’t seen very much of the Japanese forward. Minamino hasn’t started a single Premier League game, for instance, with his only starts coming in the FA Cup.
He had come off the bench against Wolves and Southampton, though. But Minamino wasn’t in the squad to face Norwich in Liverpool’s 1-0 win.
The fact they don’t need him, however, is exactly why they’ve brought him in now.
It’s something of a hallmark of Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp that certain new signings don’t play very often. We saw it with Fabinho, for instance.
The Brazilian didn’t start a game until the October after he signed. He wasn’t anything like a regular until March 2019 – it’s safe to say Liverpool were patient with him.
Andy Robertson was in a similar situation. The Scot was behind Alberto Moreno to begin with and didn’t get any regular football until Moreno picked up an injury four months into the season.
So Liverpool have something of a luxury in signing Minamino now. They had clearly planned for the season without him and thus he isn’t actually needed.
He’s far more likely to play a role next season, then. And that means he should be ready and raring to go from the off, having already had his ‘bedding in’ period this campaign.
It makes far more sense to go through that phase with a player when you don’t actually need them. Liverpool appear to have done just that and should reap the rewards next season.
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