Minamino transfer takes giant leap forward as Liverpool medical is booked in

Takumi Minamino TEAMtalk

Takumi Minamino will become a Liverpool player on January 1 if all goes to plan with his medical, which is due to take place at Melwood on Wednesday.

The European champions have stolen a march on several of their rivals to seal a deal worth a bargain £7.25m for Minamino after it was revealed last week that the Reds had accelerated their plans to sign him.

And with details emerging about how the club’s transfer guru / sporting director Michael Edwards worked behind the scenes to secure the deal, it seems Minamino’s last game for the Austrian champions came against his would-be next employers during last Tuesday’s Champions League clash.

Now the man who broke news of the deal, The Times’ Paul Joyce, says the Japan international is due to undergo his medical on Wednesday which – should it go through without any hitches – will see the player officially become a Liverpool player on January 1.

 

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And his signing for the club on January 1 will make it possible to see Minamino make his debut against Everton in the FA Cup on January 5, with Premier League regulations ruling him ineligible to feature against Sheffield United on January 2.

The prospective £7.25m deal has been given a huge thumbs up by former Liverpool star Steve McManaman, who declared his capture “an absolute no-brainer”.

Assessing his performances in those games and why he would be an astute signing for Liverpool, McManaman, speaking via his column on horseracing.net, said: “I thought he was excellent against Liverpool. I thought he was excellent in the first game, I think he was the one player who dragged Salzburg back into the game and I thought he was really good last Tuesday too.

“A couple of their players were very good also. I thought Hwang Hee-chan was good up front as well, [Erling] Haaland was okay, he didn’t have his greatest game on Tuesday and he missed a couple of chances, but Minamino looked very lively and dangerous.”

Asked what he thought about the costs involved, McManaman continued: “If they’re talking about his buyout clause being £7.25million, we talk about the prices being paid in the Premier League, then it’s an absolute no-brainer really to pay that type of money for that type of talent.

“If he was £100million then it would be a different conversation, but the fact that he’s the price that they think he is and they think he’s got the attitude that Jurgen Klopp wants then he could be an excellent addition to the Liverpool squad.”

Minamino has played 22 times  for Salzburg so far this season, scoring nine and setting up a further 11 – with the Austrian outfit currently sitting atop of the Austrian Bundesliga.

His departure is expected to spell bad news for one former Klopp favourite however, with the club now ready to let him leave on a free at the end of the season.