18-year-old is coming to replace Liverpool cult hero | OneFootball

18-year-old is coming to replace Liverpool cult hero | OneFootball

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Anfield Watch

·8 March 2026

18-year-old is coming to replace Liverpool cult hero

Article image:18-year-old is coming to replace Liverpool cult hero

An exciting wonderkid is coming to replace a cult hero at Liverpool.

When Jurgen Klopp announced his arrival, everyone was still a little bit sceptical.


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Wataru Endo arrived at Anfield with little fanfare at a really disappointing time for Liverpool supporters.

The Reds had just missed out on Moises Caicedo even though they badly needed a replacement for Fabinho. To make it worse, they missed out on him to their arch rivals.

And then instead of going out to spend big on the next big thing in Romeo Lavia, they missed out on him, too.

So, Liverpool opted to sign an experienced Japanese international not many fans had heard of.

Endo was never supposed to be a Liverpool signing but he ended up becoming a lot more than that.

In the last three years of so, Endo has become a cult hero at the club. He's become the player you can rely on to come on and kill the game.

And he's also become beloved by supporters for his passion and commitment. You can always rely on Endo to put in a 110% performance in any position.

He's also had some iconic moments, scoring headers even that will live long in the memory of Liverpool supporters.

Not to mention a key role in the Premier League winning squad of last season.

But the chances are we are probably not going to see much of Endo after he picked up an injury last month.

There's a strong likelihood that he leaves the club in the summer window - especially because there is an 18-year-old now ready to replace him.

Trey Nyoni arrived at Liverpool in the same summer as Endo. Again he arrived with little fanfare but there was a feeling he could become something special.

Nyoni was only 16-years-old but he'd already been playing at a high level for Leicester City's academy and that season when he arrived at Liverpool he already made his debut within a few months.

Jurgen Klopp was a big fan of him and Arne Slot also remains a big fan of him as well.

Against Wolves in the FA Cup, Nyoni had his best cameo yet. He won 100% of his duels (3) and completed 100% (8/8) of his passes.

It was proof that Nyoni is ready to play more and ready to play at this level. Over the course of the last few weeks and months Nyoni has been getting a lot more first-team opportunities and it's clear that he is stepping up in the hierarchical ranks among the Reds' midfielders.

Nyoni is now ready to replace Endo and step into that fifth-choice midfielder role behind Curtis Jones, Ryan Gravenberch, Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister.

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