Seeing Darwin Nuñez arrive, even with Sadio Mané heading to Bayern Munich, Takumi Minamino will know his future isn’t at Liverpool.
Spending the entire campaign at Anfield, the Japan International only managed to get on the pitch 22 times in all competitions, but did accrue 10 goals and an assist in that time.
However, he started just once in the Premier League, against Southampton in the final days of the campaign, and that will have made him think about his future.
There are a number of clubs who are reportedly interested in the 27-year-old, and Atalanta are reportedly one of those.
The stories started in England, but have been picked up in Italy, where Gazzetta dello Sport explore the idea in a bit more detail.
Atalanta are in the mix of clubs interested, with Lee Congerton at the head of their transfer operation, and ‘despite its high prices’, a deal for Minamino is ‘not impossible’.
The fee and the wages on demand are on the high side, but not by much, and the Serie A side ‘will have to decide’ if the Liverpool winger ‘can be the right man’ to take them forward.
Once they do so, they will ‘try to strike up a negotiation’, knowing full well Premier League sides are also sniffing around, including Monaco in Ligue 1.