Takumi Minamino admits two former Liverpool stars influenced his decision to move to Anfield last month.

The Japanese international moved to the Reds on January 1 in a £7.25m deal from Salzburg.

Manchester United were among the clubs interested in the attacker but Michael Edwards and Liverpool's recruitment team worked fast to trigger his release clause.

He told Sky Sports: "I cannot tell you which other teams approached me, but some Premier League and German clubs.

"The reason why I chose to come to Liverpool was that playing for Liverpool was one of my dreams since my childhood, so I had no reason to say no to them.

"I like Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres and Liverpool was one of my favourite clubs growing up.

"I was very impressed with their strong mentality to come back from 3-0 down and I remember how they played in that second half [against AC Milan in the 2005 Champions League final]."