Wataru Endo has started just like Fabinho – and could be Liverpool’s answer at No 6

Liverpool remain a high class number six away from a balanced midfield.

Memories linger of the failed summer bids for Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia, and Alexis Mac Allister’s use in the anchorman role has been more convincing at Anfield than in tough away games, the sense being he is ‘filling in’ before the next recruit arrives.

Scrawl through social media and many have convinced themselves that Fluminense midfielder Andre is awaiting clearance to take the next flight to Merseyside given a tentative enquiry last summer.

Not so, insist Liverpool, and in playing down expectations of a younger, long-term replacement for Fabinho joining in January, manager Jurgen Klopp has consistently pointed out that the search for a defensive midfielder is over. Or, if you prefer, Endo.

The Japan international, Wataru Endo, remains a player of intrigue since he became Klopp’s last summer signing in August. Klopp has spoken highly of him, often volunteering praise so as to remind everyone what a coup it was to secure the 30-year-old from Stuttgart for just £16 million.

“He has five years left in his legs,” the manager said last week, dismissing any age concerns.

Thursday’s defeat to Toulouse apart, Endo has performed well in the Europa League and Carabao Cup fixtures. But since a difficult first start against Newcastle United he has thus far been unable to make his presence felt in the Premier League.

That is partly because Mac Allister has added an attacking dimension from deep in home fixtures, where Liverpool have been imperious, and Klopp has so far seen no reason to make changes in a difficult opening series of away games.

Last weekend’s draw at Luton Town and the midweek loss to Toulouse were the first time both the result and performance were disappointing. Mac Allister’s fifth caution of the season at Kenilworth Road means he is suspended for Sunday’s visit of Brentford. That has created an opening, Endo virtually certain to get his second Premier League start.

Such are the requirements in Liverpool’s 4-3-3 system, there are similarities in how Klopp is conditioning Endo as he did the last dedicated number six he signed back in 2018. Recollections of Fabinho tend to focus on the player who, alongside Alisson Becker, elevated a side capable of reaching the Champions League final and transformed them into competition winners.

In fact, his transition was not so straightforward.

A couple of months after signing, Fabinho had been barely used prompting Klopp to explain why he is waiting to unleash him.

“It’s about positioning, it’s about reaction, about spaces defensively, closing them, offensively using them,” Klopp explained in 2018, saying more fine-tuning was needed on the training pitch.

“To improve something you can give half a year to really make the next step.”

Across the first 11 Premier League games following his arrival from Monaco, Fabinho featured in just three matches, starting twice and playing 201 minutes.

So far, Endo has made six appearances totalling 118 minutes.

“You line up 11 and they do well, and people think the others do not do well. That is not true,” said Klopp when asked about how little Endo has been used.

“Thank God Wataru makes steps every day. We had stories like this in the past. This year it looks like players are fitting in a little bit quicker. But we had stories like Andy Robertson who did not play for half a year. Nobody can remember it but it was like that. Other players had their struggles in the beginning. With Endo it is not ‘struggles’. He played pretty good in games. It is about rhythm. He will definitely start Premier League games, 100 per cent.”

With a daunting schedule ahead and Liverpool seeking to prove the last two matches a blip, it will become clearer if Klopp’s faith is justified.

As things stand, there are no plans for Liverpool to replicate the last transfer window when the only anchorman they were not linked with was Ron Burgundy.

But Klopp will hope history will repeat itself in the evolution of his team rather than with a clamour for another midfield signing.

After his inauspicious start in 2018, Fabinho started 19 of the next 25 Liverpool league games, a vital midfield presence for the next four years.

With the next two months including meetings with Manchester City and Arsenal, it will become clear soon enough if Endo can be a similarly permanent solution in what remains a problematic position.