Takumi Minamino sealed a late loan move to Southampton on deadline day, with the Liverpool forward making the move to St Mary's in search of regular first-team football.
The Japan international has been a peripheral figure at Liverpool since joining the club for £7.25m from Red Bull Salzburg in January 2020, making just four Premier League starts.
His most recent came in the Reds' 7-0 win over Crystal Palace in December, with Minamino scoring the opening goal after just three minutes.
Speaking in January, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp claimed Minamino had "made big steps", saying: "You come in, a new club and everybody thinks that you will score 20, 30, 40 goals and stuff like this.
"He is in a good shape - a really good shape - he developed, he got used to it. He was a good player when we signed him, obviously, but he got used to the intensity, the league, training, all this stuff.
"He made big steps. I know the last game he played was Crystal Palace and since then we didn’t win another [game], so we should think about involving him, obviously."
However, the fact that Minamino featured in just six minutes of Premier League football across the seven games that followed the win over Palace suggests that Klopp does not believe he has kicked on and that he cannot rely on the forward as Liverpool attempt to defend their title.
The move to Southampton hands Minamino the chance to play regularly in the Premier League, an opportunity he has not been afforded at Anfield.
Mirror Sport understands that Southampton were keen on an option to buy being included in the loan move but Liverpool were unwilling, with the deal being completed without one.
This means that if Minamino impresses at Southampton, he could either kickstart his Liverpool career when he returns or it would allow the Reds to negotiate a higher fee in the summer.
