Jurgen Klopp: 'Liverpool will have a lot of fun with Wataru Endo'

The Reds confirmed the signing of the Japan international for approximately £16.3m on Friday lunchtime, and he has signed a four-year contract at Anfield.

Endo arrives to fill the vacant number six role previously occupied by Fabinho, whose number three jersey has also been handed to the 30-year-old.

Endo follows fellow midfielders Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister to Anfield for the 2023-24 season, although he was not the number one target on Liverpool's wishlist.

The Reds turned to the ex-Stuttgart captain after Chelsea hijacked their moves for Romeo Lavia and Moises Caicedo, but Klopp has nonetheless affirmed that he is "really happy" to get a deal for Endo over the line.

"I'm really happy. Wataru is a really good player. I know in this world of football how it goes and stuff like this, but have a look, have a look, because he's a really good player," Klopp told liverpoolfc.com.

"Experienced player, captain of Stuttgart, captain of Japan, speaks good English, nice fella, family man, machine on the pitch, good footballer on top of that, sensational attitude. So, I'm really happy. He's a good footballer, very experienced and loves to work extremely hard.

"He's super-highly respected. I think for Stuttgart it's really hard to lose him but on the other side I think it's a good deal as well, one year left [on his] contract. For him, it's good. For the club, it's good. For us, it's really good. He is really happy to join us, which is nice as well.

"He was always on my list, just usually we don't sign players of this age group. He is obviously a top fit and we will have a lot of fun with him. I'm really sure he can help us immediately, which is super-cool because the season already started. So, he will show how good he is on the pitch and I can't wait to have him around."

Endo helped Stuttgart return to the Bundesliga during an initial loan spell in the 2019-20 season, and the Japanese lynchpin left with 15 goals and 12 assists under his belt from 133 appearances for Die Roten.

The former Urawa Reds midfielder captained Stuttgart throughout the 2022-23 campaign and made his final appearance for the club last weekend, scoring in a 4-0 DFB Pokal win over Balingen.

Ahead of Saturday's Premier League clash with Bournemouth - where Endo could potentially make his debut - Klopp sees no reason why the 30-year-old cannot be integrated into the fold straight away.

"Yeah, he had a full pre-season. I'm not sure he played all the pre-season games but he played pre-season games, so that's all. He was in full training. When we spoke first time, he came off the training pitch!" Klopp added.

"He's in a good shape. Of course we need to figure out how quick can we put him in, but it will not be a physical problem, let me say it like that. And the rest, he should play here the position he played for Stuttgart, so there's not a massive difference.

Yes, of course, we do things slightly differently but in the end it would be cool if he could win challenges and pass the ball from A to B - and he will do that, definitely, from day one.

"Look, I know how this football world works and I can see that in people's eyes. The names were flying around and when they think, 'OK, they have them, they have them, they have them', do me a favour, give us a second and let's have a look. He's really good and I'm really happy with that signing, I can't say it differently. It's a really good one."

Endo has also played as a centre-back and right midfielder during his career, and the experienced lynchpin boasts 50 caps and two goals for the Japan national team.