Takumi Minamino needn't worry about Erling Haaland - it's all part of Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool plan

As Erling Haaland continues to tear it up with Borussia Dortmund, Takumi Minamino must be wondering when his chance with Liverpool will come.

The Norwegian teen was of course team-mates with Minamino at RB Salzburg. And after a stellar half-campaign - as well as both somewhat outgrowing the Austrian champions - the duo set sail for horizons new.

Minamino docked at Melwood in January for £7.25m and has featured just four times so far for Liverpool.

While Minamino is finding his feet, Haaland on the other hand has made a splash by jumping right into the Dortmund first-team. Taking with him the ruthless goalscoring nous which was on full display in Austria's top flight.

Since making the move to Germany the Norway starlet has played seven games and scored 11 times.

Haaland has scored on his Bundesliga debut, his German cup debut and his midweek brace against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League made it a clean sweep of debutant strikes. His net-crashing winner was his 39th goal across all competitions which is even more staggering when you consider he's appeared 29 times.

So, as Haaland continues to incinerate the record books, it has been a quiet start to life on Merseyside for Minamino.

On Tuesday, the 25-year-old watched on from the sidelines as Atletico Madrid defeated Liverpool 1-0 at the Wanda Metropolitano.

This may leave fans wondering when Minamino will be given his own chance to tear it up.

But rest-assured it will come.

Jurgen Klopp was never going to throw Minamino in at the deep end because for one he didn't need to. And secondly Klopp has shown in the past how he likes to get new signings up to speed on how Liverpool go about their world-beating business.

There are three recent examples of when the German coach has taken this amount of time to let a player bed in. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Fabinho and Naby Keita all had to bide their time and get up to speed and reconditioned before they were called into selection.

Minamino's opportunity will come. There is no rush with Liverpool in such a commanding position in the Premier League.

Klopp also possesses an almost fully fit squad and this means Minamino will have to fight his way up the pecking order.

But as the season winds down, there will be more and more minutes for the winger to lap up especially if Liverpool are to be crowned champions of England as early as next month.

It is also important to remember the same Minamino was not long ago playing provider for Haaland and co.

So when he is called upon in a creative capacity he is already well-versed in the role.