LIVERPOOL, England — Liverpool signed Japan midfielder Wataru Endo from German membership Stuttgart on Friday.

The 30-year-old Endo was within the final yr of his contract at Stuttgart, the place he was the captain. Endo performed in all 4 of Japan’s video games on the World Cup final yr.

“He was always on my list, just usually we don’t sign players of this age group,” Liverpool supervisor Jürgen Klopp mentioned. “He is obviously a top fit and we will have a lot of fun with him. I’m really sure he can help us immediately, which is super cool because the season already started.”

The signing for a reported payment of 19 million euros ($20.7 million) comes after Liverpool missed out on defensive midfielders Moisés Caicedo and Romeo Lavia, each of whom opted for Chelsea as a substitute.

Endo can play as a defensive midfielder or within the middle of protection. He had been at Stuttgart since 2020 and scored 5 objectives in 33 Bundesliga video games final season because the membership narrowly averted relegation.

Klopp has overhauled his midfield this offseason after the departures of Fabinho and Jordan Henderson to the Saudi Pro League. James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita additionally left.

In has come Alexis Mac Allister from Brighton and Hungary captain Dominik Szoboszlai from Leipzig.

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