The attacking midfielder showed a date move from Anfield to St Mary’s and his new coach hopes he can make an immediate impact
Takumi Minamino will get the minutes he needed in Liverpool after his transfer to Southampton, said Ralph Hasenhuttl, with the Saints’ head supporting the Japanese international to succeed.
The midfielder has witnessed an attacking day-to-day move from Anfield to St Mary’s and has just joined the Austrian squad for Saturday’s trip to Newcastle United.
After reaching Merseyside in early 2020 – and with enough games last term to win a Premier League winner’s medal – Minamino has nonetheless limited his chances this season.
His move to the south coast of England from the north west – a well-drained path on the other side in recent years by players such as Virgil van Dijk and Sadio Mane – now gives him a better chance of feels, according to the new manager.
Speaking ahead of his side trip to face the Magpies, Hasenhuttl revealed that he had talked about Minamino’s ability with Reds boss Jurgen Klopp, and that he had highlighted the potential of the 26-year-old ahead of his his first visit, supporting him to follow in the footsteps of his Merseyside loanee Theo Walcott, who came from Everton.
“I spoke to Jurgen,” the former Leipzig coach said. “He said he didn’t have the opportunity to give Minamino enough time to play. I’m sure when he played, he made good games and scored a couple of goals.
“He’s a very special player to me – not because of his physical strength but more about his way of playing football. He’s very quick-witted, has good decisions, knows about our tension style and hopes for a lot of running.
“He knows when you come to me you have to run a lot, but that’s not a problem for him. Although he hasn’t played much in past games, he also needs time to get up – but we had a great experience with Theo, who immediately helped us, and we hope he does the same. ”
At the same time Southampton will be able to call on Jan Bednarek after a red card return to him after he was sent off in their 9-0 midweek humiliation against Manchester United , but Alex Jankewitz is still put off.