Japanese star joins Reds

Japanese midfielder Wataru Endo has officially moved to Liverpool from Bundesliga outfit Stuttgart. The 30-year-old has put pen to paper a four-year contract at Anfield, with the Reds paying Stuttgart a fee around £16m for his services. The deal is subject to a work permit and international clearance.

Endo will take the No.3 jersey at Liverpool- the number vacated by Brazilian midfielder Fabinho following his departure to Saudi Arabia. He is Liverpool’s third signing of the summer after fellow medios Alexis MacAllister and Dominik Szoboszlai.

Liverpool have been looking for midfield reinforcements all summer and were heavily linked to both Felipe Caicedo and Romeo Lavia, only to see the duo move to league rivals Chelsea instead.

Endo started his career at Shonan Bellamare in his native Japan and then played for Urawa Red Diamonds before moving to Sint-Truden in Belgium. A loan switch to Stuttgart followed, with the Swabians making the deal permanent in 2020.

Endo was part of the Japanese team that topped their World Cup ahead of both Spain and Germany last year before going down to Croatia on penalties in the Round of 16.

The midfielder also captains the Japanese national team currently, having taken over the armband from veteran Maya Yoshida.