French sports news outlet L’Equipe have hit out at Monaco’s signing of Takumi Minamino after the Japanese winger has failed to make an impact at the French club.
Monaco poached Minamino from Liverpool in June 2022 after the 28-year old struggled to adapt to life on Merseyside, where he scored just 14 times in 55 games for the Reds.
The player promised a lot when the Anfield club signed him from RB Salzburg, so they loaned him to Southampton in January 2021 but he struggled to make his mark there, making just ten appearances for the Saints.
Now in France, the player’s career has continued to stall where he has scored just one goal in 16 appearances.
With this lack of form, popular French outlet L’Equipe have hit out at Monaco’s signing of Minamino, calling it a “marketing stunt”.
L’Equipe also suggested that his signing was a move designed to “break the market” in Asia, despite plenty of Asian players establishing themselves at the top level such as Heung-Min Son and Kaoru Mitoma.
64 goals and 43 assists in 199 games for Salzburg before his move to Liverpool suggests that there is a player in there somewhere and he just needs a regular spell in a team that suits him.