Shame it didn’t work out for him here. Not totally his fault or due to his ability but a decent profit made.
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Cool artwork by Monaco
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Bye Taki, all the best with your new club!
YNWA 
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I will miss Taki. I thought for sure he would be a success here, admittedly that was my own opinion based in a small sample size. It’s all so difficult to project, coming to a big club and having several cultural barriers to overcome. For some players it’s easy, others not so. There was a moment approx 7 months ago I started to think it wasn’t going to happen here.
This was a big move for Taki, coming to Liverpool from Salzburg. My favorite story was Shinji Kagawa helped convince Taki that if he was leaving for anywhere, playing for Klopp was an excellent career move, based on his own relationship with The Boss.
My hope is that Taki leaves Liverpool knowing he’s a much more well rounded professional than when he arrived. He also has the fortune of experiencing several trophies.
EDIT: This old quote (is one of many) from The Boss expressing properly how he connects with his players on a personal level:
”Shinji Kagawa is one of the best players in the world and he now plays 20 minutes at Manchester United, on the left wing. My heart breaks. Really, I have tears in my eyes. Central midfield is Shinji’s best role.”
"He’s an offensive midfielder with one of the best noses for goal I ever saw. But for most Japanese people it means more to play for Man United than Dortmund”
“We cried for 20 minutes in each others’ arms when he left. One year before that Nuri Sahin went because Real Madrid is the biggest club in the world. If players are patient enough, we can develop the team into one of the biggest in the world.”
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Good luck lad, had high hopes for you after you ripped us up in opposition. Sadly wasn’t to be but you tried your best. Happy travels and bright skies for the future.
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Jurgen Klopp:
“It’s hard to see Taki go, but it’s a great move for him and one he thoroughly deserves. An amazing professional; super, talented player. As a person, he is full of warmth and makes everyone feel positive. A manager’s dream, to be honest.”
“I’m sure there will be those who think it didn’t quite work out. Those who think this are wrong. I don’t accept that. His contribution far outweighs the opportunities we were able to give, in terms of starting matches."
“He made us better each and every day he was with us – not just in the games he played in but every single session in training. Perfect attitude, winner’s mentality.”
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Taki and Monaco doesn’t seem a great fit, but good luck anyway.
Was a nice try for a low fee, ultimately not good enough, good business for all parties now.
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53 games
2131 mins
14 goals
Must be one of the shortest and most productive spell by a Liverpool player.
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1 Premier League title, 1 FA Cup, 1 League Cup.
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Three assists as well, which is a bit disappointing. In Salzburg, he had 43 assists for 64 goals, thus a higher assist rate.
Still, an average of 125’ for every goal involvement (goals + assists) isn’t to be sniffed at. Especially when playing bit-parts here and there, and being left out for long spells.
I’m quite sure that he’ll be a success for Monaco.
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Some really good goals in there!
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He can generally finish very well, one thing I noticed bar that miss most people mention. His finish against Soton was calm.
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Thing is, Origi was achieving those numbers as well, but still ridiculously underrated by fans with regards to his contributions, at a younger age than Minamino.
All our forwards were achieving similar numbers (if I recall correctly) apart from Firmino, so it’s not that out of the ordinary for a Liverpool forward. We’re just that good.
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Takumi Minamino on Liverpool training:
“Salah and Mane were the two players who trained more than anyone. Thiago got lots of injuries but he was really professional, trying to avoid them by doing exercises I’ve never seen before.” #lfc [kyodo news via liverpool echo]
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I can’t help but feel that if we didn’t let him go he would have played more than a handful of games already.
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Apparently he is having a resurgence this season; three goals and three assists in four games. Monaco currently topping the Ligue 1.
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Amazing how much better good players are when they actually play.
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