Liverpool star marginalised by Arne Slot delivers dream response amid doubts over Anfield future

Wataru Endo has delivered exactly the type of response Arne Slot will love after the midfielder responded to questions over his diminished role at Liverpool.

Endo, 31, was a left-field signing for Liverpool as they revamped their midfield in the summer of 2023. The Reds had already banked Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai before attention turned to a more defensive-minded option.

Giant bids were tabled for both Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia before the pair ultimately opted to sign with Chelsea.

That left Liverpool exploring lesser heralded targets, with the Reds eventually settling on Endo who cost roughly £16m to sign from Stuttgart. Ryan Gravenberch would go on to become the fourth midfield addition two weeks later.

Mac Allister was an instant hit, though Szoboszlai blew hot and cold and Gravenberch struggled to convince Jurgen Klopp he was worthy of regular minutes.

Gravenberch has since proven a revelation since Arne Slot’s arrival and the midfielder has pinpointed one specific reason behind his remarkable turnaround.

Endo, meanwhile, quietly and dutifully went about his business shielding the defence and breaking up play. He was arguably Liverpool’s second best midfield buy when looking solely at the 2023/24 season.

Endo marginalised by Slot

However, Slot favours ball-playing midfielders in the deeper midfield positions and not destroyers like Endo. The end result is Gravenberch has taken Endo’s place in the starting eleven.

The 31-year-old has thus been relegated to a bench role. He’s made just a single cameo appearance off the bench so far, coming in the 2-0 victory over Brentford in gameweek two.

However, Liverpool will hope to challenge for trophies on four fronts as they frequently have done in recent years.

Their hopes will invariably hinge on the depth pieces within their squad and with the Champions League now boasting an expanded group phase, fixture congestion is greater than ever.

Endo is currently on international duty with Japan who he captains. Ahead of his country’s World Cup qualifier with China on Thursday – in which Japan won 7-0 with Endo on the scoresheet – the midfielder responded to questions about his lack of action at club level.

While some players often use the international break as an opportunity to vent their frustrations with their situation at club level, Endo provided the type of response that will go down extremely well at Anfield.

Endo raring to go when opportunity knocks

“When the international break is finished there is a run of games so I’ll get more chances,” said Endo (as quoted by the Liverpool Echo). “You can’t just use 11 players when you have a lot of games. I’m sure I’ll get my turn.

“My physical condition won’t be a problem. I’ve been training well and I’m not worried about it.

“At my age I have experience so getting a feel for games isn’t a problem. The important thing is to train and prepare well.”

In other words, Endo is fully understanding of the fact he is not favoured by Slot, though he’s more than ready to answer the call when the need to rest and rotate the likes of Mac Allister and Gravenberch kicks in.

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Slot confirms Endo chances will come

When speaking about Endo’s demotion earlier in the season, Slot confirmed the Japanese midfielder has impressed the coaching staff with his application in training.

Slot also stressed Endo will get chances in the eleven as the season wears on.

“It is not always about the player himself, it’s also about the competition he faces,” the Dutchman said (as quoted by the Liverpool Echo). “We have many good midfielders like we have many good players.

“We are really pleased with the way Wata is training for us but he has some good competition and I think you saw today a good performance from all three midfielders, so it is not always about him – it is also about the others.

“He will be important for us during the season because we need all of them; we all know how long a season can be over here and how many players you need – and he is one of them that we are going to need in the upcoming season.”

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Long-term future in doubt despite rejected summer bid

Liverpool did have the chance to offload Endo over the summer after Marseille thundered in with an £11.8m bid in July.

However, Liverpool rejected the offer, with Marseille ultimately going on to sign Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg from Tottenham instead.

Liverpool’s failure to sign Martin Zubimendi for the No 6 role has ensured they still have need of Endo for the time being.

But if the Reds do go on to sign a specialist No 6 in January or in the next summer window, Endo’s days at Anfield may well be numbered.

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