On loan Liverpool forward Takumi Minamino has made an immediate positive impression on Southampton team-mate Nathan Redmond.
Minamino was sent on loan to the Saints until the end of the season in order to gain more game time, having struggled for opportunities with Liverpool over the last few months.
The 26-year-old attacking midfielder had managed just four starts in the Premier League and Champions League for the Reds.
Southampton approached Liverpool on transfer deadline day, hoping to take Neco Williams on loan to provide cover in their fullback positions, but Jurgen Klopp was not willing to let the youngster leave.
Instead, Saints inquired about Minamino and a deal was quickly agreed, with the south coast side paying his wages for the remainder of the campaign.
The Japanese international then marked his Saints by scoring in the first half of his side’s 3-2 defeat to Newcastle United on Saturday afternoon.
And Redmond has been impressed by what he has seen so far from the former Red Bull Salzburg man.
“He’s settled in fine. The last couple of days in training, he’s showed his quality,” the former Norwich City man told the Daily Echo.
“He’s a really, really nice guy in terms of a human being as well. His quality was evident on Saturday with a great finish and we are going to need more of that.
“He provides competition in that he’s come here to play football.”
While speaking last week, Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuttl backed Minamino to have a big impact at Southampton in the coming weeks.
“Last winter I was really disappointed we could not get a player like him in, because he was coming from Salzburg and he went to Liverpool,” he said. I understand he played fantastic games against them in the Champions League.
“I am sure he will fit to our game, because he knows all the habits we need, and that means we need to bring him to the position where he can help us the most and he must help us then with good decision-making, with good passes, with good dribbling and hopefully he scores a few goals for us, that would be helpful.”
Before he continued: “It should be possible (that he starts against Newcastle). I know he didn't play so much in the past, but he's fit. He knows a little bit about the pressing football we want to play.
“It's good that he understands everything I want to tell him, not only because he is also speaking German – and I think at the moment his German is better than his English – but it is also helpful for me because I can explain to him everything.
“He is a good guy, and you see immediately the quality he has on the ball. I don't expect now for him to decide the game on the weekend for us immediately. I think when he plays a proper game and helps us in every part of the game then we are more successful I think with him.”
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