Liverpool Reportedly Place Bid for Japan International Wataru Endo

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Club-connected journalists have begun to line up behind news of a surprise bid for the 30-year-old Stuttgart defensive midfielder.

It’s been a busy day for transfer news and rumors on the Liverpool side of things. Which is, of course, to be expected when you’re one week into the new Premier League season and you are still down a starting caliber defensive midfielder to hold things down and unleash all the attacking folks at Jurgen Klopp’s disposal.

A new name being dropped into the mix right now is Stuttgart and Japanese International midfielder Wataru Endo. We were ready to list this as a rumor monger situation given that the Transfer Merchant Who Shall Not Be Named was the immediate source for this, but with quick co-signs from more reliable journalists including Neil Jones and the two Davids (Lynch and Ornstein), we’re prepped to signal this story as real and live.

Within TLO towers we’re surprised and relieved at the news. First, relief that it looks like it is a move that’s tangible and at least gets us closer to bringing in more folks to take on minutes in the midfield. Surprise, though, because a few things about Endo don’t quite match Liverpool’s typical profile when it comes to transfers: at 30 years old, Endo ages out of where Liverpool typically like to buy (as a recently admitted member to the 40+ club, that hurt to type). Also, the sense among folks much smarter than me is that though Endo can play in that space deeper behind, he isn’t an out-and-out defensive mid.

All told, this smells of stop gap and so the hope amongst us is that this doesn’t signal the end of Liverpool’s transfer dealings. We’ve likely still got a few twists and turns to go before the window shuts in a few weeks. Till then, hold on to your butts.