What Arne Slot is now saying privately about Liverpool midfielder transfer exit
Liverpool have already made crystal clear their stance on Wataru Endo leaving the club.
Now Arne Slot has allegedly privately shared his unwillingness to weaken the Reds’ midfield by selling the Japanese international this summer.
“Sources say Marseille’s bid comes nowhere near the Reds’ valuation of the Japan international,” Pete O’Rouke reported for Football Insider.
“In any case, it is believed Liverpool and manager Arne Slot are unwilling to weaken their midfield by allowing Endo to depart.
“The reported £12million offer is below the £16.2million the Reds paid to land the midfield star last summer (2023).”
This follows James Pearce’s report for The Athletic outlining several reasons why Anfield’s decision-makers wouldn’t part with the former Stuttgart captain. A key point being the lack of available replacements on the market.
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It seems now unlikely that interested party Marseille will look to test our resolve further. Fabrizio Romano reports the Ligue 1 outfit has moved on to different targets following the additions of Ismael Kone and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
Keep Wataru Endo unless a clear and obvious improvement is available
Regarding the price paid, there can be no arguments about Wataru Endo’s contributions last term.
One poor pre-season performance against Real Betis last Saturday aside, the former Bundesliga star has more than exceeded expectations at Anfield.
On that basis, there’s no point selling the 31-year-old just for the sake of it. We’d need to see a genuinely significant improvement available in the market for a fair price. Ideally, they shouldn’t be a younger option either otherwise it obstructs Stefan Bajcetic’s pathway into the first-XI.
That doesn’t exactly leave Richard Hughes with a wide pool of players to choose from!
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