Jurgen Klopp has spoken positively of Taki Minamino’s development, hinting at the possibility of a greater number of minutes for the forward in the near future.
The Japan international has not featured for Liverpool since grabbing a goal, and playing the full 90, in the Reds’ 7-0 thrashing of Crystal Palace.
“I don’t think it was a very difficult one [season],” the German told reporters during Liverpool’s pre-Villa presser. “He is in a good shape, he developed and got used to it – he was a good player when we signed him obviously – but he got used to the intensity, training, the league.”
“We should think about involving him, obviously,” Klopp added.
Liverpool’s No.18 has attracted some interest of late, with fans questioning the manager’s decision to not field Minamino in the prior three games, in which the side dropped seven points from a possible nine.
Given the apparent poor form of the first-XI, one would have assumed that there could not be a better time to offer the former RB Salzburg man a greater number of minutes (or any at all).
At the very least, we’re delighted to hear about how much of an impression Taki’s left on Klopp, with the former Dortmund man’s latest comments suggesting that the forward could grab some more minutes in the upcoming fixtures.
We’d expect to see Minamino feature heavily in the FA Cup tie with Aston Villa tomorrow, potentially putting the Japanese player in contention for a starring role in the pivotal clash with Manchester United next week.
You can catch the clip below:
"He's in really good shape, he's developed." – Jurgen Klopp explains Takumi Minamino has impressed him this season and hints he'll include him more often 🇯🇵 #LFC pic.twitter.com/dzwMLgEWSG
— Empire of the Kop (@empireofthekop) January 7, 2021