Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp insists he now has the striker he desired after a long and patient wait for Divock Origi to flourish and shrug off his injuries problems.
In the summer of 2014, Brendan Rodgers, who was the Reds boss at the time, decided to secure the signing of Origi from Lille, in a very cheap £10 deal.
The Belgium international went on to spend a couple of years of having to bide his time for a chance in the first team, which included a loan spell at Wolfsburg in the 2017/18 season.
Last campaign though, Klopp decided to keep Origi in his squad, despite rumours of a possible departure for the striker and that decision paid off in the end.
The 24-year-old scored a couple of vital goals in the Premier League title race before saving his best for the final day of the season, as he wrapped up Liverpool’s win over Tottenham in the Champions League final with a fine strike.
One of Origi’s main issues were related to injuries and after finally overcoming that and finding a role in the first team, Klopp has hailed the Belgian as the striker that ‘the whole world wanted’.
“Divock made the decisive step in the last couple of weeks of last season, and he deserved it,” Klopp told the ECHO.
“Not only because he trained, it’s like (the problems he had) fell off him.
“Since he got that injury (against Everton in April 2016), it was just glimpses here and there. But then we were training and you saw it – Divock’s back. It is the Divock Origi the whole world wanted.”