Naby Keita Reminisces About His Liverpool Days

Keita, from Guinea, wore a Liverpool uniform in 2018. The transfer fee is a whopping 60 million euros (approximately 85.6 billion won). Although it was an enormous amount of money, he was raising his stock through Salzburg and Leipzig, so fans expressed expectations that he would perform as well as he did rather than recognizing that he was expensive.

In fact, before coming to Liverpool, Keita was the best midfielder in the German Bundesliga. He stood out at Salzburg and then moved to Leipzig, the same ‘Red Bull Division’, where he made his presence felt. Despite being a central midfielder, he showed offensive ability and led the team to second place with 8 goals and 8 assists in 31 league games in the 2016-17 season, the first year of his transfer. In the 2017-18 season, Liverpool had no choice but to look forward to his performance as he recorded 9 goals and 7 assists in 39 games, including cup competitions.

But this was just a vain hope. Since coming to Liverpool, Keita's strengths have faded a lot. This is because he failed to adapt to the league and suffered repeated injuries. Because the English stage was rougher than Germany's, Keita's physical problems were clearly revealed. In the end, he was criticized by fans for his poor performance and was unable to solidify his standing.

Keita has become a nuisance. Despite his nickname 'The Next Gerrard', his performance at Liverpool was so poor. According to the soccer statistics media 'Transfermarkt', Keita left Liverpool this summer and headed to Werder Bremen in the German Bundesliga, leaving behind only a shabby record of 11 goals and 7 assists in 129 games.

Bremen is aiming for a little bit of a rebound. Before the opening, he missed the 4th round due to injury, but returned as a substitute in the 5th round match against Cologne, and in the 7th round, he started as a starter for the first time since his transfer against Hoffenheim.

Recently, he recalled his Liverpool days in an interview with German media outlet 'Bild'. Keita also admitted that he had had a difficult time. He said: "I admit it was a difficult time for me. I wanted to perform well, but injuries kept coming. It was clear that I had to leave Liverpool. At that time, I was ready to continue my career in a new place. “I did it,” he said.