Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp has insisted that there is no pressure for imminent signing Takumi Minamino to make an immediate impact at Anfield.
The Japan international is set to seal a £7.25m move to Liverpool once the January transfer window, and he is expected to quickly earn a place in the Reds' first-team squad to help with their small squad.
Given his versatility, Minamino would be able to feature in a number of different positions for Klopp, and the boss told the media (via the club's official website) that the 24-year-old can take his time to adjust to life in England.
"There is no pressure, there is absolutely no pressure, when he is coming in January," Klopp said. "This team is not struggling without him, so what we want is extra quality with him, different quality with him and a really, really good player.
"That’s what we got and from which point on we can use him, really we will see. From which point on we will see the 100% Takumi, there is absolutely no pressure on the boy. So many good things which will help us, but from which moment on he can use all of them, we will see."
Liverpool are not exactly blessed with too much depth in attack, so a signing like Minamino has long been suggested.
"I would be happy if he was half as good as he is, if he could be here now in this moment and could help us – and he could help us," Klopp added.
"That’s all good, we will see how quick it goes. The ways in which we play are not too different, there are a lot of things which he has learned already at Salzburg. That makes it so good for us, actually. We have a lot of patterns on the game which are different to what Salzburg are doing.
"So, offensively, when you speak about what he is used to, it is more or less defensively. He is an offensive player, so offensively how can we bring him into a situation that he feels completely comfortable and to use the things instinctively and not because we told him?
"That’s what we speak every year about when we say [about new signings], ‘Why he is not already in?’ all the time and stuff like this."
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Source : 90min