Liverpool have enjoyed some tremendous success under the management of Jurgen Klopp, but despite the wealth of silverware and the incredible accuracy on the transfer front, there have been a few acquisitions that have not quite made the desired impact.
The most salient example is that of Naby Keita, with the Guinean midfielder signing from RB Leipzig for around £53m in 2018, with the ace highly-coveted and even described as having the presence of "two players" by Schalke sporting director Christian Heidel.
That one didn't work out and we need not delve into such painful wounds, but it probably is the most notable case of a transfer blunder under Klopp's wing at Anfield, though the signings of the likes of Loris Karius didn't really work out either.
But it really is nit-picking, with so much going well for the Premier League club and the strategy working as such that scant few players have truly been moored in the pits during their stay on Merseyside.
One player who certainly wasn't terrible but didn't quite cut the mustard is Takumi Minamino, who departed in 2022 after failing to cement a regular starting berth in Klopp's squad.
How much did Liverpool sign Takumi Minamino for?
In December 2019, Liverpool completed the signing of Minamino from Austrian Bundesliga giants RB Salzburg after meeting the player's reported £7m release clause.
Enveloped by the snow-capped Eastern Alps, the Japan international had been tearing it up in the melodious music-mad city of Salzburg, having plundered a prolific return of 64 goals and 43 assists from 199 appearances, with Klopp hailing him for his "really good" spell there.
Indeed, Minamino had registered 20 direct goal contributions by the time he joined the Reds halfway through the 2019/20 campaign, having caught the eye with a goal and assist apiece at Anfield against Liverpool in the Champions League group phase.
This is what truly alerted Klopp and co to his presence, and while he had sharpened his cutting edge in the months leading to his career-high transfer, he failed to deliver after the bells of Christmas chimed and didn't bag his first goal involvement for the club until the following season.
The £75k-per-week ace's first full season with Liverpool was not one of great success, with just 17 appearances across all competitions before he was loaned out to Southampton in January, where he scored only twice.
The 2021/22 campaign yielded better success, and while the 28-year-old still endured a role on the fringe, he did manage to score ten times from just 24 matches across all competitions, including seven strikes across the FA Cup and Carabao Cup campaigns – two competitions which Liverpool ultimately won come season's end.
It wasn't enough to preserve the "undervalued" player's position in Klopp's squad, as was said by journalist Josh Bunting, with the German manager unable to provide him with the regular playing time that his talent deserves, and, as such, he was sold to French side Monaco for £15m in June 2022 – amounting to more than double what the Reds paid for his services in the first place.
How is Takumi Minamino performing now?
Last season, the 47-cap Japan international was branded a "flop" by journalist Nabil Djellit after flattering to deceive for his Ligue 1 outfit, having scored just once in the league all term, also providing four assists, and earning just ten starting appearances.
It looked to be another unsuccessful spell but for a revitalised start to the present season, where the diminutive gem has rekindled his most fruitful form and posted three goals and assists apiece from six matches thus far, with the Rouges et Blancs looking to propel themselves into title contention.
As per Sofascore, he has recorded an incredible average match rating of 7.85 this year, complementing his direct involvements with 1.3 key passes, an 81% pass success rate, 3.8 ball recoveries and 1.8 tackles per game – also winning 53% of his ground duels.
The season might be in its maiden stage but it's already far better than last year's 6.72 average score, having completed 71% of his passes and averaged 0.6 key passes and 0.8 tackles per game.
How does Takumi Minamino compare to Luis Diaz?
While Liverpool's current crop of offensive talent is thriving, it's interesting to see that the left winger is currently outperforming his positional peer Luis Diaz, who is earning plaudits for his start to the season on the wing of Klopp's attack.
Diaz was signed in January 2022 for an initial £37m from Portuguese giants Porto, in the months preceding Sadio Mane's departure – and indeed Minamino's.
He's proved to be a total and absolute success, lauded for his "sensational" impact by writer Leanne Prescot after bagging four goals and three assists from 13 league outings that season.
Despite spending the lion's share of the 2022/23 campaign sidelined with injury, the £55k-per-week Colombian has rebounded well this year and already scored three times from eight outings – yet to assist but, of course, deserving of one more goal if not for the inexplicable controversy ruling out his strike against Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend.
As per Sofascore, he has recorded an average rating of 6.91 in the Premier League, scoring two goals, averaging one key pass per game, completing 78% of his passes and making 0.9 tackles and 3.4 ball recoveries per game.
As per FBref, Minamino ranks among the top 19% of attacking midfielders and wingers across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for total shots taken and touches in the attacking penalty area, the top 11% for assists and the top 12% for tackles per 90 – with a playing style likening him to first-rate phenoms such as Bukayo Saka and Serge Gnabry.
And, comparatively, Diaz ranks among the top 19% of positional peers for goals, the top 14% for shot-creating actions, the top 12% for pass completion and the top 13% for successful take-ons per 90.
Once hailed as a "machine" and a player who "works like the Devil" by Klopp, Minamino ultimately failed to make the desired impact at Liverpool, but despite this he has indeed been left in good regard by those of an Anfield affiliation for his 'devilish' work rate and role in securing the domestic cup double in 2022.
And while he is evidently not of the same calibre as Diaz, the fact that he is outperforming him across the early days of the current campaign is a testament to his resilience after enduring several testing years on an individual level, now thriving once again, just as his skill set deserves.
