Liverpool’s £7.25 million man could yet prove to be a bargain buy.
At that price, Japanese attacker Takumi Minamino, now 25, was a no-brainer for the Reds’ recruitment team, even if he is yet to fully ignite since landing on Merseyside.
Like Xherdan Shaqiri, Minamino was not brought in as one of those expensive ‘transformational’ players that Liverpool have signed in the recent past - think Alisson Becker or Virgil van Dijk.
Instead, he was signed as a cost-effective, versatile forward, capable of playing in at least four positions (any of the front three berths, plus as a number 10, and probably an eight too), providing excellent back-up for those in front of him in the pecking order.
As David Hughes outlined on the latest edition of the Analysing Anfield podcast, fitting Minamino into the Liverpool set-up on a regular basis without changing the formation is almost impossible.
But there is a way in which he could slot in alongside the likes of Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane.
Hughes explained : “It’s difficult because Liverpool’s 4-3-3 system at the moment is so successful and many teams don’t have an answer for it so I’m always reluctant to talk about veering away from it.
“In short, it could work if you went with a 4-2-3-1 formation with Firmino as the number 10, Mane on the left and Minamino on the right, with Salah up top.
“The beauty of that four is that they are so fluid it would be really hard for defenders to attack.
“In terms of opposition, you are looking at a team who would sit back and not offer much in terms of counter attacking - maybe an Aston Villa or a Bournemouth at home.
“You can pull these sorts of teams out of shape a little bit with that movement.”
Just as Shaqiri was used in that 4-2-3-1 formation last season, before his plethora of injuries and mysterious absences, Minamino could easily take that spot.
And that is no slight on the abilities of Minamino - it is easy to forget that in 2018/19, Shaqiri made 30 clubs appearances for Liverpool, scoring six times and assisting five.
Liverpool are understood to be prepared to sell the Swiss international this summer for a fee of around £25 million, but the Reds have already acquired his ideal replacement.
