Carragher ‘confident’ Slot will offload Klopp favourite as Liverpool scramble for Zubimendi alternative

Jamie Carragher is ‘confident’ that Liverpool will sell Wataru Endo this summer, with the Reds currently on the hunt for a new holding midfielder.

It’s been well-documented that Liverpool have been chasing the signature of Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi this summer.

However, the Spanish international has turned down a move to Anfield in favour of staying in Spain. With the new Premier League season right around the corner, this will have put a spanner in the works for Arne Slot.

Liverpool are the only Premier League club yet to sign a player this summer and their failed pursuit of Zubimendi will have come as a blow.

The Reds are now in the market for an alternative holding midfielder and the likes of Adam Wharton and Bruno Guimaraes have been among the players linked.

As Liverpool continue to chase after a new holding midfielder, it seems to spell the end for Endo at Anfield.

The Japanese international has been linked with a move away from the club this summer and Carragher seems confident that the Reds will move him on.

“I think that last pre-season game, we all knew as players when we were playing, if you are in the team in that last standout pre-season game, then you have a great chance of playing,” Carragher told Blood Red.

“It looked like he had Gravenberch in that number six position, it will be interesting who he puts there if he gets the signing that he wants from Real Sociedad over the line before then.

“I think the standout thing for me, in terms of the holding midfield position, the fact that we put in a bid for a player and also the manager has played every single player in that role, except Endo.

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“I know he played him at the start of the tour of America. Was that against Betis? I didn’t see the game, but I saw some reports that he found it difficult. I think Endo will go. I am pretty confident of that.

“It almost looks like he is completely the opposite of what he (Slot) wants in that role. It doesn’t mean that he is a bad player. It just means that when a manager wants to play a slightly different type of game, tactics or set-up.

“I think he will play virtually everybody there instead of Endo actually – that’s why I think he will move on.”

Endo was originally signed as a stopgap option for Liverpool in midfield after they missed out on Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia last summer.

The 31-year-old was a popular figure at Anfield last season and Jurgen Klopp was clearly a big fan of the Japanese international.

“He is one of the hardest-working people that I have ever met,” Klopp said when describing Endo last season.

“It feels like you passed him and then you turn around and he is already there.”

More: Liverpool | Arne Slot | Jamie Carragher