Arsenal
Aston Villa
Chelsea
Crystal Palace
Everton
Fulham
Leeds United
Liverpool
Manchester City
Manchester United
Newcastle United
Nottingham Forest
Southampton
Tottenham Hotspur
West Ham United
Wolverhampton Wanderers
News
James Milner hails Takumi Minamino, says he can be Liverpool’s secret weapon
that Takumi Minamino has looked “fantastic” in Liverpool training since clubs were permitted to return to action, claiming the break could have served the Japanese star well.
Minamino, 25, joined Liverpool in the January transfer window for a fee of £7.25million from Austrian outfit RedBull Salzburg – after Liverpool played against the playmaker in the Champions League during this season’s group stages.
He had scored a whopping 64 goals in 199 Salzburg appearances while also laying on 44 assists in that time – meaning the hype surrounding his signing was big. Six months on, and Minamino is certainly still adapting to life on Merseyside.
But Milner has delivered a verdict on the Japan international , claiming that the playmaker has been excellent since coming back to training and reckons the break may have helped Minamino get used to his surroundings.
“Taki has looked fantastic coming back in,” . “This period might have helped him settle in, feeling like he’s been at the club longer than he has, really. It’s given him that extra time to get used to things.
“It helped Taki, 100 per cent, he looks really different at the moment than to the first three weeks when he tried to please everybody and do everything we say in a language he’s not 100 per cent comfortable with.”
TBR’s view – Should Minamino get a chance against Everton?
Why not. Liverpool can be flexible when it comes picking players and which are used where between now and the end of the season, with the Premier League title all but wrapped up.
Dean Smith picked a Villa side that was based on how sharp his side looked in training during the break, instead of the quality of his players. It saw the Keinan Davis handed his first Premier League start over Mbwana Samatta.
Jurgen Klopp should follow suit and give Minamino a chance against Everton. Liverpool have nothing to lose and a solid Minamino display against their Merseyside rivals could see Liverpool boast a much more confident Minamino.
