Liverpool senior stars begged to sign £7.25m forward after being terrorised by him
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We look back on the Liverpool career of Takumi Minamino, who left the club to sign for Monaco four years ago todayTakumi Minamino left Liverpool four ears ago today with 14 goals and three winners' medals to his name.He also left having been labelled a 'manager's dream' by his boss Jurgen Klopp as a £15.5m move to Monaco was confirmed, with the Reds more than doubling their money on a player brought up for just £7m in January 2020.It was a transfer that generated much excitement, both within the fan base and Klopp's playing squad, but looking back, it was one that did not truly work out.It was never easy for Minamino at Anfield, with there always a reason why his Liverpool career didn’t explode into life. He wouldn’t be the first player to fail to break up this triumvirate as he was left on a hiding to nothing.With Diogo Jota thrown into the mix in the summer of 2021, Luis Diaz joining 18 months later and Divock Origi still providing the occasional match-winning moment, it was only following his half-season loan with Southampton that Minamino flourished in his bit-part role and Kopites were given a true glimpse of the player their club had signed.Game-time would remain limited as he only made one Premier League start in 2021/22.
His prize for an FA Cup brace against the Canaries, after being reduced to substitute action in the FA Cup quarter-final against Nottingham Forest, was to miss out on the matchday squad for both the semi-final and final.While Minamino would get his hands on both trophies, the writing was inevitably on the wall regarding his future as a result, with it no surprise to see him eventually depart.It would be easy to dismiss Minamino's two and a half years on Merseyside, writing him off as a low-budget transfer gamble that didn’t pay off on the pitch but at least profited off it. Meanwhile, by scoring against former club Southampton at St Mary’s, he gave travelling fans the perfect goodbye with a goal in his farewell Reds appearance.By doing so, he joins a list including the likes of Steven Gerrard, Michael Owen, Daniel Agger, Vladimir Smicer, Peter Crouch, Djibril Cisse, Nicholas Anelka, Mamadou Sakho, Suso, Jordon Ibe and, most recently before Minamino, Dominic Solanke.Yet the sad truth is his best performance at Anfield had actually come against Liverpool when still on the books of Salzburg.
For Minamino, he left with two winners’ medals around his neck but a feeling of frustration in his stomach. Yet he could depart with his head held high; at Liverpool he was just a victim of circumstances.