{"id":110316,"date":"2025-05-18T00:07:09","date_gmt":"2025-05-18T00:07:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/110316\/"},"modified":"2025-05-18T00:07:09","modified_gmt":"2025-05-18T00:07:09","slug":"wataru-endo-delivers-clear-message-to-arne-slot-about-why-he-must-be-at-liverpool-next-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/110316\/","title":{"rendered":"Wataru Endo delivers clear message to Arne Slot about why he must be at Liverpool next season"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Liverpool look set for a summer clear-out as Arne Slot begins to stamp his own mark on the squad.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Slot has done a majestic job with the group of players he inherited from Jurgen Klopp, winning the Premier League title at the first attempt.<\/p>\n

However, as good as Liverpool<\/a> have been in 2024\/25, there are also some clear areas for improvement.<\/p>\n

This is likely to be addressed in the transfer market as Liverpool look to defend their title in 2025\/26.<\/p>\n

There are a number of \u2018untouchable\u2019 players in the Liverpool squad<\/a>, with the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and several more being completely assured of their futures at the club.<\/p>\n

For others, such as Wataru Endo<\/a>, what happens next is far less clear. Endo could reportedly be sold<\/a> after starting just one Premier League match all season. However, the Japan captain has once again publicly demonstrated why Slot<\/a> would be crazy to let him go.<\/p>\n

\"PhotoPhoto by Andrew Powell\/Liverpool FC via Getty ImagesWataru Endo highlights winners\u2019 mindset<\/p>\n

Having won the Premier League at a canter, some at Liverpool may feel they have a bit of a free pass next season.<\/p>\n

With Slot likely to bring in new players, it is possible that a transitional feeling develops as the pressure to win again eases off slightly.<\/p>\n

Happily, the likes of Van Dijk, Salah, Alisson Becker and Andy Robertson are unlikely to let that happen. And, after his latest comments on The Wataru Endo Podcast, Endo can be added to that list.<\/p>\n

Filmed before Liverpool confirmed themselves as champions three weeks ago, the 32-year-old rejected suggestions that he should feel as though he has \u2018made it\u2019 as a footballer after joining the Reds in 2023.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Arne Slot ready to unleash new generation of Liverpool academy talents into Reds first-team<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s my style, because even if you achieve the goals, I\u2019m still thinking what\u2019s the next goal for me,\u201d Endo says. \u201cNow I\u2019m at Liverpool and I really wanted to be a Premier League player, but now for me it\u2019s all about winning the title.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked whether he might start to feel like his journey is complete once Liverpool win the English top division, Endo showed his winner\u2019s mentality by once again rejecting the idea.<\/p>\n

\u201cI might think I\u2019ve made it,\u201d he said. \u201cBut then I\u2019ll start thinking I want to win the Champions League and Premier League twice in a row, and the World Cup! That\u2019s my mind. That mindset helps me to be a professional football player, a Premier League player and Japan national team captain.\u201d<\/p>\n

No reason for Endo to leave Liverpool<\/p>\n

It is this kind of mindset which has helped Endo to continue at Liverpool even when it looked as though Slot did not fancy him last summer.<\/p>\n

The Japanese stood up to be counted and ended up making an important contribution to the Reds\u2019 title win. At a club where winning should be a prerequisite, Endo\u2019s mentality is much needed.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s one thing for starters like Van Dijk and Salah to be iron-clad in their desire to win more and more, but it\u2019s when the squad players like Endo have that same mentality that great things become possible.<\/p>\n

Liverpool could probably bring a player in who would be trusted to play more than the No. 3 next season. But finding someone with that same inherent desire to win and to keep standards as high as possible is a completely different task.<\/p>\n

If Endo wants to leave for more regular game time then of course it\u2019s something Liverpool will have to look at. But if he is happy to stay and keep contributing to more trophies, then Slot absolutely must keep him around. <\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Liverpool look set for a summer clear-out as Arne Slot begins to stamp his own mark on the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":110317,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4100],"tags":[1121,94,79,16,15,25816],"class_list":{"0":"post-110316","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-arne-slot","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom","13":"tag-wataru-endo"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114525925872252848","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110316"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110316\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}