Wataru Endo may have been ‘surprised’ by his move to Liverpool but he is filling the hole left behind by Jordan Henderson and Fabinho at Anfield

While some clubs lack leaders, Liverpool can boast five international captains in their squad. The latest, Japan’s Wataru Endo, acknowledges his signing was a ‘surprise’ but insists Jurgen Klopp knows what he’s doing filling the midfield hole vacated by Jordan Henderson and Fabinho.

Endo’s deal from Stuttgart was rushed less than a fortnight before the transfer window shut when Liverpool lost out to Chelsea for Moises Caicedo.

At 30, the tigerish midfield holder doesn’t fit the normal younger profile of Liverpool signings. But the team are unbeaten in the four starts he’s made so far with another likely at Brighton on Sunday with Curtis Jones suspended.

‘It was a surprise to Liverpool fans for me to come here but the manager knew me very well as a player. That was a very important thing,’ says Endo.

‘I had conversations with him. He told me Liverpool were such an attacking team, they needed a number six, a defensive midfielder. That’s why I came.

Jurgen Klopp drafted in Japan captain Endo to fill the role vacated by Jordan Henderson

‘I watched his matches when he was at Dortmund because my ex-coach liked to copy Klopp’s style of me.

‘He (Klopp) told me that he’d known of me when I was at Stuttgart.’

Liverpool’s greatest recent successes came when a midfield trio of James Milner, Henderson and Gini Wijnaldum complemented each other the famous front three of Mo Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane.

To bring it forward, Wataru’s strengths should allow Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister the license to create.

He joins a dressing-room full of leaders. Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands), Andy Robertson (Scotland), Mo Salah (Egypt) and Szoboszlai (Hungary) are their national team captains.

Among Endo’s players with Japan is Brighton’s Kaoru Mitoma. Fans will stay up in Tokyo, Osaka and Yokohama late on Sunday night to see their countrymen do…