Naby Keita will feel like a new signing if he can avoid injuries this season as he has shown the quality we know he has during pre-season.
The Guinean is my favourite Liverpool player currently at the club.
It’s why I defend him so fiercely in my articles but it’s also why I’m the first one to lay blame on him.
Things have not gone to plan for him since he joined the Reds for a reported fee worth £52million but he is now in the best physical shape of his Liverpool career.
UNSPECIFIED, AUSTRIA – JULY 25: (THE SUN OUT. THE SUN ON SUNDAY OUT) Naby Keita of Liverpool with Virgil van Dijk of Liverpool during a training session on July 25, 2021 in UNSPECIFIED, Austria. (Photo by John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Granted it’s pre-season and the onus is on increasing fitness and match sharpness, the likes of Thiago will know they will need to work to keep Keita out of the starting XI.
When fully fit, the former RB Leipzig star is the ideal midfielder for Jurgen Klopp’s system.
Not only is he agile and able to squirm past tackles but he is also so good at counter-pressing.
I wonder if Liverpool’s best setup would be to have him as part of a front four with Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah the same way the Reds were set up in 2018/19 when they narrowly lost out on winning the league title to Manchester City.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – APRIL 09: Naby Keita of Liverpool celebrates after scoring his team’s first goal with Roberto Firmino of Liverpool during the UEFA Champions League Quarter Final first leg match between Liverpool and Porto at Anfield on April 09, 2019 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Naby Keita would essentially be a part of the midfield but when counter-pressing, he would join the attack and as part of a front four, would create a blanket that would prevent sides from escape their defensive third.
This season, keeping the Guinean dynamo fit is going to be so important for Liverpool.
