Takumi Minamino Left Out of Olympic Squad

Japan confirmed their 22-man squad for the Olympics yesterday, and Liverpool FC forward Takumi Minamino has been left out of Japan’s squad for the upcoming Olympics. The games are set to begin in late July and conclude in early August.

Whilst Minamino will no doubt be disappointed about missing out on the chance to represent his country, a full preseason gives him a much better chance to entrench himself into the manager’s plans. Of course, that’s if Minamino is still at the club then. He has been linked with a move to Southampton after his latter-half season loan there.

Since signing from RB Salzburg for a relatively small fee of €8.50 million back in January 2020, Minamino’s chances in Liverpool’s first-team has been limited, with the 26-year-old has only made 31 appearances for the Reds, and found himself on the sidelines despite poor form and fatigue on the regular front three's part, and injuries in midfield. Perhaps, a full training camp instead of a pandemic-shortened one will do the trick for Takumi.