Liverpool's Summer Transfer Dilemma: The Future of Wataru Endo
Liverpool’s summer is about to get complicated.
A few weeks remain in the transfer window, three new faces are already through the door, and yet the squad feels anything but settled. Links to Bradley Barcola and Ibrahim Mbaye hint at more change, but there’s a hard limit staring Liverpool in the face: the non-homegrown quota is full.
Unless the club pivot to expensive homegrown talent – in a market where Elliott Anderson and Morgan Rogers have just gone for more than £115 million each – someone from the current group has to make way. That reality is now shaping everything Richard Hughes and Andoni Iraola do.
And one name is suddenly right at the centre of it.
Endo placed on the block
Liverpool are ready to listen to offers for Wataru Endo this summer, according to journalist Pete O’Rourke. In a squad already light on depth, that’s a bold stance.
Endo and Calvin Ramsay are the two most logical candidates to free up space. Ramsay has attracted interest, but with Iraola’s defence already under scrutiny, there’s every chance the Scottish full-back stays as cover.
If that happens, the spotlight falls squarely on Endo.
The Japan international is 34, coming off a major injury and entering the final year of his contract. From a purely strategic standpoint, a sale makes sense: cash in now, open a non-homegrown slot, reset the position.
There’s a flip side. Liverpool know how quickly a squad can unravel without a reliable holding midfielder. They lived it last season, when the balance in front of the back four never quite looked right and Endo himself struggled to convince across the campaign.
Letting him go without a clear upgrade would be a gamble. A necessary one, perhaps. But still a gamble.
What it does do is remove any doubt about Liverpool’s next move. If Endo goes, Hughes almost has no choice. The next signing has to be a number six.
The hunt for a new anchor
Liverpool’s need for a specialist defensive midfielder has been obvious for months. Almost everyone watching them last season could see it.
Ryan Gravenberch never looked like a long-term answer at the base of midfield. His inconsistency was glaring, yet the club still handed him a lucrative new deal, effectively committing to him as part of the squad puzzle rather than a piece they can easily move on.
That decision doesn’t close the door on a new six. It just raises the stakes on getting the right one.
Across the summer, a stream of holding midfielders have been linked with Anfield. Two names now stand out: Marc Casado and Adam Wharton.
Barcelona have told Casado he can leave, a clear invitation to suitors. At 20, he offers energy, tactical discipline and upside – exactly the kind of profile Liverpool like to mould.
Wharton is a different proposition. Crystal Palace do not want to lose him, and the price reflects that. He is expected to cost around €100 million, a fee that would place him among the most expensive midfielders in Europe. Of the two, though, he looks the cleaner fit: Premier League proven, positionally sharp, and already trusted in a demanding system.
Liverpool know those players do not come cheap. They also know what happens when you fudge the number six role and try to patch it together.
The clock is ticking. Endo appears to be edging towards the exit, the non-homegrown slots are locked, and the market for English talent is boiling. Somewhere in that squeeze, Liverpool’s next defensive midfielder is waiting.
The only real question now is how much they are prepared to sacrifice to get him.
