Naby Keita is seen as the player who would transform our midfield and give it a lot of energy and bite. The 22-year-old midfielder might not be having the best of seasons for RB Leipzig this time around but he does seem to be the right kind of midfielder for Liverpool.
The Guinean has bundles of energy and can be a proper box-to-box midfielder. Keita also has a great range of passing and can score the odd goal too. The youngster recently spoke about one player he admired, who was also a Liverpool star.
Xabi Alonso is considered as one of the best passers of the ball and the Spaniard retired after a glorious run where he not only starred for us but also for Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and the Spanish national team.
Alonso won almost everything there is to win in football and he was known for his ability to ping the ball around and fortunately for us, Keita seems to have modeled a part of his game on the Spaniard.
Speaking to Goal, the Leipzig man also added that he was happy to have faced Alonso before he retired from the game.
“I used to watch Xabi Alonso in the Champions League and Premier League when I was in Guinea and last season I got to play against him in midfield before he retired.
“When I think about things like this, it reminds me of how blessed I am, but also of how hard I’ve worked and far I’ve come. But this is only the start, I am never satisfied, I never get comfortable.”
It was a bit of a coup signing Keita for next season, though most of us would want him to be here already. Our season has been a bit hot and cold as we have lost games against the likes of Manchester City and Tottenham by huge margins. However, we seem to have found our mojo back, thanks to three consecutive victories before the international break.
Keita will certainly make our team much better next season but what we really need is someone who can fix the defence. If Keita can play like he did last season and also have a bit of an Alonso kind of passing range, we just might end up have a top class midfielder in our ranks.
