Naby Keita has dropped from 1st to 5th in German magazine kicker’s latest Bundesliga midfield rankings.
The Guinean, joining Liverpool in the summer for a £48m+ fee, was labelled the best centre-mid in the country last term, but has picked up too many reds since it was announced he’d sign for Liverpool in 2018.
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German journalist Simon Rolfes explained that his recklessness has actually negatively affected Rb Leipzig at times this season.
‘He has not had the same impact that he did last season,’ Rolfes told kicker, translated by the Mail. ‘Too often, he has been undisciplined and has harmed his team.’
Rolfes did go on to suggest Keita would be an enormous miss to the Bundesliga – and in fairness – we’re not worried.
We’d rather Keita developed in Germany and learned to control his discipline during this campaign than when he pulls on red under Jurgen Klopp.
The 22-year-old’s attributes are simply exceptional and we truly believe he can develop into one of the best midfielders on the planet.
He’s got everything: robustness, speed, dribbling, tackling, awareness and a creative spark to die for.
In the current market, his fee will end up looking like a real bargain, too.