How transfer humiliation led Liverpool to their famed ‘finisher’ Wataru Endo | OneFootball

Wataru Endo was not meant to be a Liverpool player.

During the club’s midfield overhaul of 2023, Endo was not Liverpool’s first choice. Nor was he their second. Their transfer policy that summer focussed on the young and promising, preferably Premier League proven, with high ceilings to smash. Endo, then the 30-year-old captain of Bundesliga strugglers Stuttgart, did not fit that criteria.

Fast forward two years and Endo is a Premier League champion and a Reds cult hero. On Sunday, he’ll receive a guard of honour at Stamford Bridge - and to either side, he’ll be applauded by two players in Chelsea blue who played an inadvertent yet instrumental role in his unlikely Liverpool transfer.

After what was Jurgen Klopp’s worst full campaign as Reds manager during his nine-season tenure, Liverpool embarked on a new era at the end of 2022/23. The likes of Fabinho, Jordan Henderson and James Milner - players who were at the heart and soul of the club during their prime years of glory - had grown leggy and were consigned to the scrapheap.

With a keen eye to replace these once-indispensable assets, acquiring a defensive midfielder was made priority number one by Liverpool. They singled out two prime targets that fit their preferred requirements of young prospect with experience in the English top flight: Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia. Caicedo, who had just enjoyed a breakout season with Brighton, was an unrealistic option due to a combination of his eye-watering £100m-plus price tag and strong competition from rivals with looser pockets. So energy was directed at getting a cut-price deal for Lavia, the Manchester City youth product who had been a rare bright light in the Southampton side relegated that year.

Liverpool, notoriously stringent with their finances, haggled over every penny when it came to Lavia. They had three bids rejected from the Saints, who wanted £50m for the Belgian, with the third offer coming in at a reported £46m plus add-ons. Then out of nowhere, after months of tireless negotiations over Lavia’s cost, Liverpool went for broke and bid a staggering £110m for Caicedo as they looked to hijack a deal for the Ecuadorian midfielder, who was closing in on a move to Chelsea.

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Moises Caicedo was, for a few moments, on his way to Liverpool back in the summer of 2023 (PA Wire)

The offer was accepted by Brighton, who granted Caicedo permission to undergo a medical on Merseyside. It looked like Liverpool had got their man. However, Chelsea responded with an improved bid of £115m for Caicedo - and with the player preferring a move to Stamford Bridge, he snubbed the Reds and moved to London.

Lavia had undoubtedly watched this all unfold, seeing the club who were in for him abandon their pursuit over the issue of a few million quid, instead opting to shell out an extra £60m on a different player entirely. It’s no surprise that when Liverpool came crawling back, Lavia’s head was elsewhere. Instead, he followed Caicedo to Chelsea, becoming the second in a matter of four days to reject the Reds. It was transfer humiliation.

Liverpool were in a bind, without two players they had envisaged as part of their new long-term project. Acutely aware of the perils that can come with a pricey panic buy, they drew up a shorter-term solution. Enter Endo.

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Romeo Lavia joined Caicedo in snubbing Liverpool to sign with the Blues (Getty Images)

The Reds quickly hashed out a £16.2m deal to get Stuttgart to relinquish their skipper in time for their first home game of the 2023/24 season against Bournemouth. The transfer was seen as something of a wildcard from Liverpool’s then short-term sporting director Jorg Schmadtke, who spearheaded the move having spent much of his career working in the Bundesliga.

Endo arrived as an unknown entity to Premier League fans. He was not the posterboy signing at Anfield that Caiceido or Lavia looked nailed on to be. And before he’d even kicked a ball, many expected him to become the afterthought of Liverpool’s midfield rebuild that also saw Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, and later Ryan Gravenberch come through the door - three players who made an impression under Klopp before becoming the heartbeat of Arne Slot’s title-winners.

However, those in the know could see Endo’s potential as a Premier League surprise package. He had cultivated a sterling reputation as a work horse in German football, and while he had yet to transcend the footballing imagination beyond Bundesliga borders, Endo had a knack for earning the respect and admiration of those who watched him.

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Wataru Endo had cultivated a sterling reputation in German football as Stuttgart captain (AFP via Getty Images)

Bundesliga commentator Dan O’Hagan was one of many to attest to Endo’s quality upon his move to Merseyside. "One of the Bundesliga’s most unsung stars,” he wrote on X in August 2023. “An absolute running monster, an engine like few others. Rarely wastes a pass, a natural leader and a scorer of important goals. Excelled in a very moderate Stuttgart team. He’ll be a terrific asset to Liverpool."

This assessment has aged well.

Endo was quick to prove any and all ringing endorsements he received in Liverpool red, winning fans and critics over in tenacious, all-energy cameos, with on-pitch performances complemented by his endearing and humble personality. Ego is not on issue for Endo, who on many occasions during his Liverpool tenure has emphasised the importance of team success over personal minutes. “The idea is to always help the team, and if I have the chance to play I go all in – that’s what I’m always thinking,” he said.

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Endo is a manager’s dream, prioritising team success over personal minutes (Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

Endo is a manager’s dream, and it’s in Slot’s regime where he’s gained cult-hero status as Liverpool’s famed ‘finisher’.

He has made 17 appearances in the Premier League this season, all off the bench. In each of them, his job has been simple: lock in and see out the result. Endo has become Liverpool’s safety net when crucial points are at risk of being forfeited, and his ability to stabilise the midfield and close out wins has been invaluable to the club’s title success.

While the plaudits have largely been reserved for his midfield colleagues in months gone by, with Gravenberch’s stunning transformation under Slot making up one of the stories of the season, Endo’s role in this Liverpool side cannot be discredited. Titles can be won or lost in the final five minutes, and Endo’s contributions this campaign have ensured the former.

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Titles can be won or lost in the final five minutes, and Endo’s contributions this campaign have ensured the former (REUTERS)

This was no more prevalent than during Liverpool’s hard-fought 2-1 win over Wolves in February. Off the back of drama in the derby four days prior, Liverpool needed a win to prevent talk of their season unravelling. But after going two up in the first half, Wolves threatened to stage a comeback in the second, with a Matheus Cunha curler piling pressure on a Reds side that had looked lax ever since the restart. As their lead looked ever more fragile, Endo was brought on with 20 minutes to go and provided the decisiveness and discipline Liverpool had been missing. Slot’s side held on for the remainder, passing a serious test of their resolve in significant part thanks to Endo’s late-game presence.

Endo may have only racked up a total 157 Premier League minutes so far this season, but each of those have to been to visible effect. He is never a passer-by, instead called upon when his team needs him most - and he always delivers. It’s that unwavering and obvious dependability that has won the hearts and minds on Merseyside, and it’s why you’ll regularly hear his name sung from the Kop, to the same tune that was adopted for the legendary Sadio Mane: Voulez-Vous by Abba.

For how little he actually plays, Endo’s impact is nothing short of remarkable - but when you look back at how his Anfield arrival actually transpired, it can only be described as a happy accident. If things went Liverpool’s way in August 2023, this chapter of Endo’s career would have never been written.

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Endo’s transfer to Liverpool was a very happy accident (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Alas, on Sunday, he’ll be clapped onto the field as a Premier League champion. For Caicedo and Lavia, standing to the side in the applauding Chelsea contingent, it will be a moment of what could have been. Two players who rejected the Liverpool project in favour of Todd Boehly’s billion-pound Blues, the assignment next season will be to make up ground on their northern rivals.

Neither will look at Endo with particular envy, mind you. Caicedo, 23, has been one of the league’s standouts in his position over the past 12 months and is one of the first names on the teamsheet under Enzo Maresca. Lavia, meanwhile, clearly has the trust of his coach and does get minutes when fit. The problem is that since his £58m arrival on August 18, 2023, the 21-year-old has missed 424 days - and 67 games - through injury.

However, there will be a cruel irony to Sunday’s pre-match proceedings as they congratulate the unlikely beneficiary of their joint-transfer saga from two years ago, now boasting the accolade that both can still only dream of. For Liverpool, there will be no regrets.