Liverpool’s Midfield Puzzle: Wataru Endo on the Move

Liverpool’s midfield puzzle is starting to solve itself — and Wataru Endo looks like the piece about to be moved off the board.

Endo on the Market as Liverpool Hit Squad Ceiling

The summer window is ticking down and Liverpool have already been active, with three new faces through the door and links emerging to the likes of Bradley Barcola and Ibrahim Mbaye. The appetite for change is obvious. The problem is space.

Liverpool’s first-team squad has no free non-homegrown slots left. To bring anyone else in from abroad, someone has to go.

They could, in theory, pivot to English talent. But when Elliott Anderson and Morgan Rogers are changing hands for fees north of £115 million each, the homegrown market looks wild. That kind of inflation pushes Liverpool towards a harsher solution: sacrifice from within.

And that’s where Wataru Endo comes in.

Journalist Pete O’Rourke reports that Liverpool are now prepared to listen to offers for the Japan international this summer. Calvin Ramsay is another name in the background, but with Andoni Iraola’s defence already creaking, the young Scot may yet be kept as cover.

If Ramsay stays, Endo becomes the obvious casualty.

The 34-year-old has just come back from a major injury and has only a year left on his contract. From a cold, strategic standpoint, it makes sense: cash in now, clear a non-homegrown slot, refresh the position. But it’s a gamble. Strip out his experience without a reliable replacement and Liverpool risk leaving themselves exposed in the very area that already looked fragile last season.

That fragility is precisely why this decision points in one clear direction. If Endo goes, Liverpool’s next signing almost has to be a number six.

Number Six Becomes Non‑Negotiable

Anyone who watched Liverpool over the last campaign could see it. The base of midfield never fully convinced. Ryan Gravenberch, tried there at times, showed flashes but not the consistency required to anchor a side with title ambitions.

Despite that, Liverpool handed him a lucrative new contract, a move that effectively locks him into the squad for the foreseeable future. They may not be able to move him on, but that doesn’t mean they can’t upgrade around him.

The search for a defensive midfielder has been simmering for months. Names have come and gone, but two stand out right now: Marc Casado and Adam Wharton.

Barcelona have told Casado he can leave, opening the door for a relatively straightforward deal if Liverpool decide he’s the right profile. Wharton is a different story. Crystal Palace do not want to lose him, and the price reflects that resistance, with the 20-year-old valued at around €100 million.

Of the two, Wharton looks the more complete fit for what Liverpool need in the heart of midfield, even at that eye-watering fee. Casado, meanwhile, represents a more opportunistic play: a talented young option made available by Barcelona’s own squad recalibration.

There are still weeks left before the window shuts. Deals can collapse, new targets can emerge, priorities can shift. But one thing feels fixed.

If Liverpool are ready to move on from Endo, they aren’t just tweaking the edges of the squad. They’re ripping out the safety net at the base of midfield.

The next number six they choose won’t just be another signing. He’ll define what this new Liverpool under Richard Hughes and Andoni Iraola is supposed to look like — controlled, balanced, and ready to compete at the very top, or still one injury away from another season of scrambling.