Liverpool target Wataru Endo is maths fan with hilarious name as transfer ‘reality’ revealed!

Not only does Wataru Endo love his three times table, he also has a name that shares more than one letter with some other midfielders. Hilarious!

The magic number
Somewhere in Liverpool, the first whispers of unexpected interest in Stuttgart midfielder Wataru Endo will have prompted one question. Not whether he has the skill-set to play in this Liverpool side. Not whether he is a sensible signing at 30. Not whether this is a panic buy from the only market Jörg Schmadtke knows. But the real big question: What is his dream shirt number and is it available at Liverpool?

How giddy the Football Trends team of the Liverpool Echo must have been when they discovered he wears the No. 3 at Stuttgart and that is a number recently vacated by Fabinho. Huzzah.

Wataru Endo could be handed dream shirt number at Liverpool after Saudi Arabia transfer

Extra points for crowbarring ‘Saudi Arabia transfer’ (high SEO value) in there, but the real gold is in this ‘dream shirt number’.

READ MORE: Liverpool must answer £95m transfer question, even if ‘shock’ deal is not Endo the world

How extraordinarily generous of Endo as actual captain of Japan to allow Shogo Taniguchi to wear his ‘dream shirt number’ of 3. Presumably he could pull rank but he wears the No. 6 instead. Almost like that’s the number he prefers but that shirt was taken at Stuttgart when he arrived mid-season.

But the Echo have an excellent explanation for this:

Endo, who currently captains Stuttgart, wears the number three shirt for the Baden-Wurttemberg club. He has occupied the squad number since he made his move, firstly on loan to Die Schwaben in 2019 before completing a permanent switch in 2020.

There has been a growing theme throughout the reliable defensive midfielder’s career. If he hasn’t had a three on his back, it has been a product of the number.

He must be gutted Darwin Nunez has taken the 9.

Endo the line
Let’s face it, almost nobody had more than vaguely heard of Wataru Endo before the news broke on Wednesday evening, but credit to the Echo for taking just a few hours to reach an Endo content explosion.

Among the many, many headlines, this one leapt out to Mediawatch:

Liverpool and Jorg Schmadtke have already been told why Wataru Endo transfer makes sense

As seasoned Mediawatch readers will know, ‘already’ means that something has been said days, weeks or even years ago, and it’s probably only vaguely connected.

And boom. We go back to 2020 and Sven Mislintat saying in a club statement why Stuttgart had given Endo a permanent deal.

Do you think he knew then that he was actually ‘telling Liverpool and Jorg Schmadtke’ why it makes sense to sign him three years later?

Enzo the line
Over to The Sun now and they have spotted a hilarious ‘bizarre coincidence’ about new Liverpool signing Wataru Endo. Honestly, we are on our knees here.

‘SOME RANDOM’ Chelsea in stitches at Liverpool’s latest transfer target as they spot bizarre coincidence after beating Reds to stars

Obviously. ‘Chelsea’ are not in stitches, but a small number of ‘Chelsea fans’ on the internet. Which is apparently news. But what is this ‘bizarre coincidence’?

It takes six paragraphs to get there but it’s so worth the wait…

Chelsea fans loved how close the name sounds to Enzo Fernandez and Caicedo.

F***ing hell. Genuinely. So the ‘bizarre coincidence’ that has left some people ‘in stitches’ is that Endo is only one letter away from Enzo. And Endo shares the same two last letters as Caicedo. Is the Edinburgh Festival still on because this sh*t is comedy gold?

One said: “They couldn’t get Enzo now they are going for Endo.”

Another added: “Caicedo + Enzo = Endo.”

Football content in 2023, folks. And people wonder why we drink.

Reality (Liverpool) TV
Over in the Daily Mirror, Liverpool man David Maddock is defending the club over accusations that this transfer window has been shambolic, as he pledges to bring you the ‘reality’.

Liverpool’s business so far when they have got deals done has been impressive – Alexis MacAllister was a steal at £35m, Dominik Szoboszlai looks a Rolls Royce addition to the midfield at £60m.

What about Liverpool’s business when they have not got deals done, David? It feels like that has been monumentally, publicly and demonstrably woeful.

But hey, they ‘got deals done’ for players with release clauses. Next.

People have asked why would Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia choose Chelsea over a Reds team far more competitive in recent seasons…and with European football to offer. The answer is simple: money.

Now Mediawatch is not naive and knows that Chelsea are offering massive long contracts and big money to secure these signings but let’s not just skate over ‘a Reds team far more competitive in recent seasons’ when Chelsea have actually won more trophies over the last decade than Liverpool.

It’s certainly not beyond the realms of belief that young players believe Chelsea are a bigger, more successful club.

Add the Saudi money sloshing around though, and the market has been distorted beyond expectation. Especially when it comes to defensive midfielders, with Caicedo and Declan Rice the two most expensive players in the window – in the whole world – so far.

A reminder that plenty of that Saudi money sloshed around to Liverpool, who received £52m for two midfielders well past their peak who they didn’t have to sell.

Bloody Saudis, coming over here and distorting Liverpool’s transfer market.

Add in Jude Bellingham, and the top three most expensive players in the market this summer are midfielders, while the likes of Neymar, Benzema, Messi and even Harry Kane have gone for far less.

Which is very compelling until you acknowledge that Caicedo, Rice and Bellingham are 21, 24 and 20 and the attacking quartet mentioned are 31, 35, 36 and 30. And two of them were out of contract.

Had Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jnr or Bukayo Saka moved this summer, this would be a very different list.

Have Liverpool been shambolic? Or is the ‘reality’ that Saudi Arabia and Chelsea have distorted the market? The truth is probably somewhere between the two poles but don’t expect any members of the Liverpool media army to acknowledge that.

Just wait until Maddock learns that Liverpool have ‘got a deal done’ for a 30-year-old with a year left on his contract.