Summer signing Naby Keita has revealed the great role that Daniel Sturridge has played in helping him settle on Merseyside.
The 23-year-old joins us after spending the last four years in Austria and Germany, and so to adapt to another country, culture, environment and team again at such a young age would surely have been difficult to an extent.
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In turn, his teammates will undoubtedly have played a crucial role in helping him through that process, as the Guinea international is hopefully set to become a pivotal part of our side moving forward to help us continue to make progress.
Nevertheless, it’s Sturridge who Keita has revealed as the one teammate in particular who has helped him find his feet in England, and so after impressing on the pitch during the pre-season schedule, it also looks like the forward is having an influence off it too.
“I have to say I’ve got a lot of respect for him,” Keita told Liverpoolfc.com. “Like a lot of the lads, he’s a good laugh, but he’s also given me a lot of advice about the settling-in process and also in terms of motivation.
“He’s a very positive and motivating player, so this month has been very good and I’ve spent a lot of time with him. He’s a great guy.”
Keita will be hoping to make his competitive debut against West Ham United at Anfield on Sunday, while Sturridge has his own battle on his hands in trying to displace one of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino or Sadio Mane in the starting line-up.
Competition for places is healthy though, especially if we hope to challenge on multiple fronts this season, and so it’s great to hear that Sturridge is staying positive for himself but also passing that on to the likes of Keita to help him settle in and make a telling impact too.