Takumi Minamino Reflects on His Time at Liverpool and Anfield

Takumi Minamino has had some touching words to say about Anfield more than 15 months on from completing a permanent move away from Liverpool. The Japanese international joined Monaco for a fee worth around £15.5 million last summer having spent two and a half seasons at the club.

Six months of that spell was spent on loan at Southampton in 2020/21, with Minamino making a total of 55 appearances for the Reds during the time he spent on Merseyside. It wasn’t quite the Liverpool career he was hoping for but Minamino has still given a glowing review of his time at Anfield, describing it as one of the “best stadiums in the world.”

In an interview with SNTV, relayed by TNT Sports, Minamino said: “It was a great experience for me. We won the Premier League and two cups, it was the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup. That stadium, Anfield, is one of the best stadiums in the world I think. And this atmosphere, if you score in that stadium as a Liverpool player, this is amazing. Yeah, I’ll never forget that feeling.”

Minamino’s Crowning Moment at Liverpool

Minamino netted 14 times in all competitions for the Reds while predominantly having to act as a fringe player who sat beyond the first-choice forwards in the pecking order. Perhaps his crowning moment with the Reds came during the League Cup victory over Leicester in December 2021, when the Japanese international fired home deep into injury time to force a penalty shootout which the Reds went on to win.

He arrived at the club from RB Salzburg having impressed and scored for the Austrian side in Liverpool’s dramatic 4-3 comeback victory at Anfield back in 2019. His £7 million move saw him become the first Japanese player ever to play for the club and he has since been followed by the arrival of Wataru Endo from Stuttgart earlier this summer.

Anfield: A Special Place for Minamino

Minamino’s time at Liverpool may have been short-lived but it was certainly eventful. He won two major trophies and scored some important goals during his time at Anfield, but it was the atmosphere and feeling of scoring at such a special stadium that will stay with him forever.

Anfield is one of the most iconic stadiums in world football and Minamino is just one of many players who have been left in awe of its atmosphere and history. It’s clear that his time at Liverpool was a positive experience and it’s one that he will never forget.