Jurgen Klopp names Liverpool summer signing who is 'one hardest-working people I've ever met'

Jurgen Klopp has praised the recent Liverpool progress of Wataru Endo and insisted: he's one of the hardest-working players I've ever met.

The midfielder moved to Anfield from Stuttgart for £16.3 million in the summer transfer window. Endo endured a slow start to his Reds career, with Alexis Mac Allister being preferred in the number-six role.

However, an injury to Mac Allister has opened up an opportunity for Endo. The Japan international has started the past four matches, while he scored a sublime goal off the bench to help rescue a 4-3 victory over Fulham at the start of the month.

Endo expected to keep his berth in Klopp's side for Liverpool's Premier League top-of-the-table encounter against Arsenal. And Klopp explained how the 30-year-old is hardly the first player the Reds have signed who took time to acclimatise.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Klopp said: "“We don’t give people time anymore. Internally we do, but because we talk [to the media] every three days – or more often – about these kind of things, it feels like after four weeks, it’s now we speak already that long about when it will finally click. That’s how it is.

“Some of the biggest players this club in my era ever saw needed time to adapt. Some others didn’t. But some big players did.

“Just to mention, Andy Robertson didn’t play half a year, pretty much was not in the squad! Hopefully he forgot that as well but it’s anyway true. And Fabinho we had to change system for because he couldn’t play [as the] six alone. Later on he could play that easily, made it his position, so it’s all fine.

“You need a bit of time, that’s all. We see him every day in training and he is one of the hardest-working people I ever met. It was always clear that it will be good, but I’m happy obviously for him that the public could see it now as well, because that’s pretty helpful in our job.

“Yeah, it was a really good game [against West Ham]. And he gives something different to the team, we have to say, that’s clear. He’s the one for the tackles. We don’t have now 20 players on the pitch who have tackling as a hobby. He is doing it. On top of that, his passing is really good, his awareness is really good, he finds his position better in possession, all these things. It’s football and sometimes it takes a little bit of time but that’s no problem for me.”