Liverpool’s Takumi Minamino sealed a deadline day move to fellow Premier League side Southampton late last night.
The Japan star departs on a short-term loan deal, but the Saints wanted to insert an option to buy clause in the contract.
This suggestion was rejected out of hand – according to The Athletic’s James Pearce, who also claims Jurgen Klopp is keen to see how Minamino performs between now and May and very much sees the forward’s future at Liverpool.
The Reds’ rejection will come as good news for many supporters, with Taki showing a fair bit of promise this season but not really given a chance to build on it.
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Southampton are an excellent team to have Minamino play with for a few months as their attacking style isn’t that different from Liverpool’s.
Both Divock Origi and Xherdan Sahqiri have been linked with potential future moves away from Anfield recently, which would certainly improve Taki’s ranking in the squad next season.
The loan move to Southampton now means the Japan star can get some regular football, and with no option to buy it’s a fairly risk free endeavour by Liverpool.