Takumi Minamino once again failed to impress when given a rare opportunity to start against FC Midtjylland on Wednesday night and those at the club should now admit their transfer mistake and let him go.

The Japanese international joined Liverpool from RB Salzburg in January but has struggled in his first year with the Reds, having made 27 appearances for the club, contributing just three goals and one assist (per Transfermarkt).

His performances this season have been less than impressive too, as in six Premier League appearances, he has averaged a shocking 6.10 rating, whilst his appearances in the Champions League have resulted in a poor 6.32 rating (per WhoScored).

However, Wednesday night's performance should be the final nail in the coffin for the 25-year-old, as Jurgen Klopp would have been hoping to see him step up as one of the few senior players on the pitch but instead he was dominated by Midtjylland's midfield.

As per SofaScore, Minamino picked up a 6.5 rating for his performance against the Danish side, which was better than just Leighton Clarkson and Trent Alexander-Arnold's match ratings.

The former Salzburg man enjoyed just 42 touches of the ball during his time on the pitch, completing 20/25 of his passes, resulting in a pass accuracy rate of 80%.

He also won just 5/14 of his duels on Wednesday and was dribbled past on four occasions, suggesting that he was second best on a number of occasions.

Although he was unfortunate that his late goal was ruled out due to a baffling VAR call, the midfielder's overall performance was far from good enough.

When you consider that Minamino earns £75k per week at Liverpool but struggles to impress on his rare starts, usually against inferior opposition, you wonder how much longer the Japanese international has at the Merseyside club, as it could definitely be argued that he is bleeding Michael Edwards dry at the moment.

Earlier in Liverpool's Champions League campaign, Klopp praised the 25-year-old for his performance against Ajax, saying:

"Taki is a machine. He’s everywhere, he defends like a devil and then offensively he’s really involved. Nice one-twos together with Diogo on the side where they came into the box."

However, Minamino was clearly not at his best again on Wednesday and at times it is difficult to see what he really offers to this Liverpool side, so it will be interesting to see how long the German manager continues to keep faith in him.

And, in other news... 11 duels won: "Incredible" LFC beast was Klopp's surprise star man on Wednesday