Jurgen Klopp's phone has been pinging all week, with text messages from former players, coaches and friends back home in Germany stating a clear general consensus: Wataru Endo, Liverpool’s third summer signing, could be an almighty smart piece of business.
The Japan captain did not warrant a multi-club tussle for his signature like British record Moises Caicedo, or the clamour of highly-wanted 19-year-old Romeo Lavia - but he has many attributes that left Klopp grinning from cheek to cheek.
At 30 years old, Endo breaks Liverpool’s usual policy of signing young talents and growing them into world-beaters, but Klopp believes he is on to a winner - and his friends back at Mainz and Borussia Dortmund agree after watching him grow at Stuttgart in the Bundesliga.