Liverpool confirmed the signing of RB Salzburg's Takumi Minamino on Thursday for a reported fee of £7.25m.

Minamino isn't a name that many fans knew before this season - he didn't even get into Japan's 2018 World Cup squad.

But Liverpool certainly found out all about him in this season's Champions League.

The Reds faced Salzburg twice in the group and while the focus was on star-striker Erling Haaland, Minamino stole the show at Anfield.

Liverpool raced into a 3-0 lead in that game but Salzburg managed to pull three goals back to square things up.

That comeback was fueled by Minamino, who ended up with a goal and an assist before Mohamed Salah sealed the win with Liverpool's fourth.

Minamino put in another solid performance in the return game and Jurgen Klopp and co. clearly liked what they saw.

It broke almost immediately after the game that Liverpool were in talks with the 24-year-old and were prepared to meet his release clause.

He certainly left an impression, then.

And if he left an impression on any player, it would have been Andy Robertson, who was directly up against Minamino as Liverpool's left-back.

Unsurprisingly, he's been full of praise for the forward.

“It was difficult to play against Salzburg full stop, but I thought he was their man man,” he told the Liverpool Echo.

“He was the one, especially at Anfield, who caused us problems.

“When we went 3-0 up, he started to dictate the game. He started to run at us a wee bit and he got a goal and an assist.

“That might be why the gaffer started looking at him and thinking 'who is this player?'.

“In the two games we played against them, he was great. Other than that, I hadn't really seen him play.

“He will be a welcome addition for us and I'm sure he will be a fantastic player.

“We look forward to him coming over in January and I'm sure he'll add to the already high quality in this squad.”

It sounds like Liverpool fans have every right to be excited, then.