The club “didn’t want to let go” of Wataru Endo, according to Stuttgart’s sporting director Fabian Wohlgemuth, but Liverpool pushed them to accept the unhappy conclusion.
The Reds had trouble keeping many of their signings during the summer transfer window. Romeo Lavia and Moises Caicedo provided the best examples, according to available documentation.
Despite Liverpool and Brighton agreeing to a £110 million deal, the former ended up at Chelsea because the Reds didn’t conduct their due diligence to determine if he genuinely wanted to join.
Lavia was a comparable circumstance, but it wasn’t as devastating. Even though Jurgen Klopp’s team offered £60 million for him, he still chose the Stamford Bridge team.
After activating both of their release clauses, Liverpool had Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai in place for months, but their failures in several pursuits added to the frustration of watching five midfielders leave the club.
When Stuttgart permitted Japan international Endo to transfer to Liverpool, Klopp would have rejoiced.
Even though he didn’t seem to be at the top of the list during the first half of the transfer window, the club was desperate and would have been overjoyed to sign him.
The loss of their leader, on the other hand, devastated Stuttgart.
Endo was something Stuttgart ‘didn’t want to let go of.
The club’s unwillingness to permit the midfielder to depart after the unexpected approach has been mentioned by sporting director Wohlgemuth.
We truly didn’t want to let go of Wataru as a player. To be very honest, Liverpool wasn’t on our list of potential partners. A few hours prior to the offer being made, we were alerted by the player’s advisors of Liverpool’s interest,” he told Bild.
Endo made it difficult to say no since he wanted the move so badly, and the money the Reds contributed at the time meant Stuttgart had to approve Endo’s bitter departure from the team.
Despite our offer to prolong the contract, Wataru truly wanted to make this move. We were forced to comply to Jörg Schmadtke’s enhanced financial demands because the facts were out in the open, Wohlegmuth continued.
“In the end, the negotiations were relatively quick to reach an agreement.”
Endo prepared to leave his mark on Liverpool
Endo has only played three games at Anfield but has clearly been catching up in a new league even if he hasn’t really started yet. In his debut game, Klopp claimed the midfielder “absolutely had no clue what to do” as he adjusted to the situation.
But because he obviously wanted the transfer so badly, he’ll be eager to get started and make his mark on the side.
Endo will play a lot of football because there are more midfielders leaving than joining the team.
Given that, he will be able to demonstrate to his new team’s supporters what he can provide and why he was so eager to join Liverpool.
