In addition to James Milner, who left at the end of his contract, Jordan Henderson and Fabinho left Anfield after being approached by the Saudis.
Liverpool urgently needed to secure a defensive midfielder who could handle the bottom of midfield, and presented former Brighton midfielder Moises Caicedo with the most expensive offer in the Premier League.
Liverpool had reached an agreement between the clubs, but lacked confirmation of the player’s intentions. The Ecuadorian midfielder only wanted to move to Chelsea, and settled for a Brighton to Chelsea transfer when the Blues made an even higher offer.
This move cost them the Belgian midfielder Romeo Lavia, who they had been chasing, and Liverpool made a lightning-quick move for Japan midfielder Wataru Endo, who had been captain of Stuttgart.
The 30-year-old midfielder, who is also captain of the Japan national team, revealed that he had expected Liverpool to make a move for him when Caicedo left for Chelsea, and jumped at the chance to play in his dream of playing in the Premier League.
“To be honest I followed Liverpool’s news, that they wanted midfielders, they wanted a number six,”
“I thought Caicedo had gone to Liverpool! So when I heard he went to Chelsea I just thought ‘maybe’.”
“I thought maybe they needed experienced midfielders or something like that, because [Jordan] Henderson and Fabinho had moved. I thought there might be a chance.I understand top clubs want young talent, but you know I just say to myself: ‘This is the only chance you can get to move to Liverpool because they usually try to get younger players.’ I got the chance and I intend to take it.”
“My agent called me and I had to decide quickly,”
“I couldn’t say no because to play in the Premier League was always my dream. I would always tell my agent I wanted to play in the Premier League for a top, top team, so here I am.”
“I was getting ready to play in the Bundesliga. Now I’m playing here at Anfield in the Premier League in front of all these fans, it is crazy. I only had time for one training session so I just tried to get ready as best I could. I am an experienced player, so I needed to accept and deal with the situation.”
The Athletic