It's almost certain that rising Japanese star Takumi Minamino will join Liverpool in January 2020 and reports said the forward had been acquired by the English club at a relatively bargain price of £7.25 million. In the race to sign up Minamino, the reigning European champion beat out Manchester United.
Provided Minamino will pass the medical exams and his camp thumbs the terms of the deal offered by Liverpool, the transfer from Red Bull Salzburg will be finalized next month.
Metro said Liverpool edged out United thanks to the former's sports director Michael Edwards. It turned out Edwards is a close friend to Cristoph Freund, who is a counterpart at Salzburg, and the two worked silently on the transfer deal.
The same report indicated Liverpool won over United, and the former closed the deal at a reasonable price, all because of Edward's workings. The Liverpool official has been credited on the club's impressive recruitment strategy that was put in place since Jurgen Klopp was appointed as manager.
In a statement, Freund admitted that negotiations with the Premier League had been conducted on the transfer of Minamino, adding that the likelihood of the Japan international leaving Red Bull is in the cards.
"It's true there are talks with Liverpool... It's an honor for our club that the current Champions League winners and other big clubs are looking at our players," the Salzburg executive was reported as saying.
In a related report, Goal said Liverpool's interest on the Japanese was cemented when the club clashed with Salzburg in an exciting game that saw the Austrian team coming from a three-point deficit. In the end, the Reds turned back Red Bull, 4-3, but the English team was convinced Minamino is a player they need.
During the game, the Salzburg forward was instrumental in fueling his team's comeback by scoring a goal and figuring in the setting up of a successful point. The visiting team failed on that day, but it seemed Minamino had left an indelible imprint.
Liverpool and Red Bull met again this week, and after the match, the Reds made a clamor on Klopp to make a move on the Japanese attacker.
As it turned out, there was no need to nag Klopp on the matter. Edward started on the dealings without the players' knowledge, and it helped that he had direct access to Red Bull. Liverpool was made aware of Minamino's release clause, which proved a key advantage for the club.
