Author Topic: Naby Keita Watch  (Read 1880319 times)

Offline Szemerényi

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Re: Liverpool agree deal to sign Naby Keita
« Reply #40 on: August 29, 2017, 10:27:25 am »
No lean til next year? ;(

Offline Rosario

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Re: Liverpool agree deal to sign Naby Keita
« Reply #41 on: August 29, 2017, 10:31:51 am »
Stoked we are getting him seems the perfect prototype for a Klopp midfield. One bonus for us not getting might be that he can build up some more experience in a top league especially seen as he hasn't played a lot of minutes throughout his career so far.

Offline BeautifulGame91

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Re: Liverpool agree deal to sign Naby Keita
« Reply #42 on: August 29, 2017, 10:37:38 am »
Payment structure details according to Bild.

Should Leipzig miss the international business (European Competition) this season, Liverpool will pay just under 65 million euros. Already 10 million more than in the exit clause.

► On reaching the Europa League, some 70 million

► On reaching the Champions League again about 75 million euros.
.

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Re: Liverpool agree deal to sign Naby Keita
« Reply #43 on: August 29, 2017, 10:47:56 am »
Christian Heidel, Schalke director, was impressed with him last week.

"Everyone has seen that Leipzig are a top team, especially since they have a 12th player," he said. "Naby Keita plays for two, this boy is incomprehensible"

"I have rarely seen such a thing live. Even if we threw three players at him, he somehow managed to hold onto the ball."

https://www.fourfourtwo.com/news/incomprehensible-keita-two-players-heidel

Offline SMASHerano

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Re: Liverpool agree deal to sign Naby Keita
« Reply #44 on: August 29, 2017, 10:48:39 am »
He's going to be a great player for us. Whenever I've seen him play, he was the best player on the pitch.

I just hope this doesn't mean we won't sign anyone for midfield for this season, as we still need to strengthen it

Online JackWard33

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Re: Liverpool agree deal to sign Naby Keita
« Reply #45 on: August 29, 2017, 10:54:09 am »
Christian Heidel, Schalke director, was impressed with him last week.

"Everyone has seen that Leipzig are a top team, especially since they have a 12th player," he said. "Naby Keita plays for two, this boy is incomprehensible"

"I have rarely seen such a thing live. Even if we threw three players at him, he somehow managed to hold onto the ball."

https://www.fourfourtwo.com/news/incomprehensible-keita-two-players-heidel

Yeah goosebumps!
See this is the thing - he's ridiculous.
Watched him a bit last year then started to get into his numbers. He's a one off. You literally can't find a player that matches his ability to affect football matches from midfield. There are better passers, there are better out and out destroyers but there aren't better all round players - anywhere.

I know delayed gratification is a tough thing for us humans but this thread should be 20 pages long - we've signed a superstar in the making

Offline mallin9

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Re: Liverpool agree deal to sign Naby Keita
« Reply #46 on: August 29, 2017, 11:32:48 am »
BOOM
You'll Never Walk Alone

Offline Linudden

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Re: Liverpool agree deal to sign Naby Keita
« Reply #47 on: August 29, 2017, 11:34:53 am »
Great news! Hope he lives up to the hype both this year* and the next! Here's hoping he plays a blinder this year while the rest of the team go to shite and they finish 8th in the league so we have to pay less  8) Not likely though!

* he can go missing for 180 minutes if we meet in Europe  ;D
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Offline Purple Red

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Re: Liverpool agree deal to sign Naby Keita
« Reply #48 on: August 29, 2017, 11:37:05 am »
By all accounts, this lad is genuinely elite. I can see him having a similar impact on the league to Kante and I don't mean in the sense that they are the same type of player. Explosive signing, and the club deserve a lot of credit for thrashing out a deal for him. What he said about Liverpool being a very exciting project is another testament to how fortunate we are to have Jurgen Klopp as our manager. He is our single greatest asset at the moment and the fact we are shopping in the elite market is down to him. Make no mistake, we have beaten the best clubs in world football to get this deal done. Can't wait to see you in a red shirt, Naby. Welcome to the greatest club in the world.

Offline Adam_LFC

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Re: Liverpool agree deal to sign Naby Keita
« Reply #49 on: August 29, 2017, 11:44:35 am »
The sort of signing you make to show your real intentions. This could spur us on into a new era. The way the deal was done in itself is extremely savvy, by getting in there before the inevitable 'bigger' guns do next Summer. Can't wait. He should single-handedly sort out the balance issues within our midfield.

Offline Dubred

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Re: Liverpool agree deal to sign Naby Keita
« Reply #50 on: August 29, 2017, 12:10:52 pm »
The sort of signing you make to show your real intentions. This could spur us on into a new era. The way the deal was done in itself is extremely savvy, by getting in there before the inevitable 'bigger' guns do next Summer. Can't wait. He should single-handedly sort out the balance issues within our midfield.

Says something about what we've sold to him too.

The lad could have hung on till end of the season, and had his pick of teams.

Maybe gone to Real/ Barca/ Bayern.......who knows.

But he's committed to us already.

That in itself is remarkable to me.  He's sold on us, sold on Klopp and doesn't appear to view us as a stepping stone because if he held out till the end of the season, he most probably didn't need a stepping stone if he had ambitions to play for those other teams!

This for me is a turning point.

Offline redgriffin73

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Re: Liverpool agree deal to sign Naby Keita
« Reply #51 on: August 29, 2017, 12:21:09 pm »
So excited about this, well in to the club for pulling it off. Welcome Naby!
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Re: Liverpool agree deal to sign Naby Keita
« Reply #52 on: August 29, 2017, 12:26:47 pm »
Great bit of business for both clubs this. Of course in a perfect world he'd be coming now but this is the next best thing for us. We get an excellent player (and Klopp's first choice at that) locked down without having to compete with other big boys who would inevitably be after him next summer and Leipzig get to say that they've stuck to their guns and not weakened their team ahead of their first CL campaign.
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Offline Rush 82

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Re: Liverpool agree deal to sign Naby Keita
« Reply #53 on: August 29, 2017, 12:27:37 pm »
Absolutely amazing.

Welcome Naby, welcome.

Offline sms1986

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Re: Liverpool agree deal to sign Naby Keita
« Reply #54 on: August 29, 2017, 12:32:30 pm »
Another great signing. Only one downside to this. AFCON is gonna hit us hard in 2018/2019.

AFCON is in summer from the next one, which is in 2019.

Offline JasonF

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Re: Liverpool agree deal to sign Naby Keita
« Reply #55 on: August 29, 2017, 12:33:09 pm »
Made up about this one. He was the signing I most wanted us to make this season.

Shame we've got to wait a year, but it'll be more than worth the wait.

Online JackWard33

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Re: Liverpool agree deal to sign Naby Keita
« Reply #56 on: August 29, 2017, 12:33:30 pm »
For your reading pleasure - they usually quite sober oh you beauty blog on Keita
https://ohyoubeauty.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/on-naby-keita.html


"I write this with no exaggeration. I am no expert – you should know this by now – but having watched far too many of Keita's matches and read into Keita's stats far too deeply over the last two months, I am damned near convinced that he is uniquely, superlatively talented. That he is worth every cent, pence, and euro of his transfer fee, even though it's by far the club record, even though he's still not joining Liverpool for another year.

That Naby Keita is a prototypical Jürgen Klopp type of player. That Naby Keita is already one of the best midfielders in the world. That he'll probably get even better at RB Leipzig over the course of this season, in the Champions League, in a side that every other Bundesliga side will be gunning for. That he has the potential to be one of the best midfielders to ever play the game. And that he is the sort of player who helps you win the league. "

Offline Dim Glas

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Re: Liverpool agree deal to sign Naby Keita
« Reply #57 on: August 29, 2017, 12:51:17 pm »
Quality and I guess we'll also be following RB Leipzig this season?

be prepared to be impressed with 4 or 5 other players there too then :D Not at Naby's level, but they do have some exeptionally good players on their team, pretty decent team to watch, if you can get past the whole Red Bull BS.

Offline Flaccido Dongingo

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Re: Liverpool agree deal to sign Naby Keita
« Reply #58 on: August 29, 2017, 12:51:54 pm »
WELCOME KEITH

Offline elpistolero7

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Re: Liverpool agree deal to sign Naby Keita
« Reply #59 on: August 29, 2017, 01:00:07 pm »
 :lickin
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Offline SerbianScouser

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Re: Liverpool agree deal to sign Naby Keita
« Reply #60 on: August 29, 2017, 01:00:29 pm »
Brilliant signing. It's mind blowing that he committed to us in this way.

Klopp and Edwards are pushing this club forward relentlessly. We are now a well oiled machine primed to build a team that's gonna make all our dreams come true very soon.

Offline Chakan

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Re: Liverpool agree deal to sign Naby Keita
« Reply #61 on: August 29, 2017, 01:03:15 pm »
Fantastic signing! Welcome.

Made up Klopp for his man, eventually.

Offline PIPA23

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Re: Liverpool agree deal to sign Naby Keita
« Reply #62 on: August 29, 2017, 01:06:05 pm »

Offline scalatore

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Re: Liverpool agree deal to sign Naby Keita
« Reply #63 on: August 29, 2017, 01:26:52 pm »
Brilliant signing. I want him in a red shirt now!

The club deserves some credit for this window. Edwards, FSG, Klopp. Big bollocks to get these major deals through, and also to stop the deals we didn't want to happen.

Offline WhereAngelsPlay

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Re: Liverpool agree deal to sign Naby Keita
« Reply #64 on: August 29, 2017, 01:33:31 pm »
An amazing bit of business and the lad obviously told them that he was only interested in coming to us.Had we been made to wait until next summer you can guarantee that it would've ended up being a bidding war.
« Last Edit: August 29, 2017, 01:38:13 pm by WhereAngelsPlay »
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Offline Dim Glas

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Re: Liverpool agree deal to sign Naby Keita
« Reply #65 on: August 29, 2017, 01:38:03 pm »
An amazing bit of buisiness and the lad obviously told them that he was only interested in coming to us.Had we been made to wait until next summer you can guarantee that it would've ended up being a bidding war.

well he had a release clause, but what Lepizig wanted to avoid was him not being focused, and what Keita wanted, was the assurance that Liverpool didn't turn around and go after someone else.

So everyone's happy! Leipzig get a focused player for another season, without constant talk of where he'd go and Naby knows he's getting the move he wants.

Offline WhereAngelsPlay

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Re: Liverpool agree deal to sign Naby Keita
« Reply #66 on: August 29, 2017, 01:40:02 pm »
well he had a release clause, but what Lepizig wanted to avoid was him not being focused, and what Keita wanted, was the assurance that Liverpool didn't turn around and go after someone else.

So everyone's happy! Leipzig get a focused player for another season, without constant talk of where he'd go and Naby knows he's getting the move he wants.

Yeah but the release clause wouldn't have meant shit had more than 1 club gone in for him.
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Offline aoaaron

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Re: Liverpool agree deal to sign Naby Keita
« Reply #67 on: August 29, 2017, 01:46:51 pm »
Class.
Long term transfer, big money, number on target.
Signed a year advance, clearly signalling complete faith in manager.
No compromise on quality.

If we had this kind of methodology and forward thinking when we had Rafa, we might have had a team with the likes of Aguero, Alves etc. (players were strongly linked with but ultimately decided against).



Hope we sign Can up to a new deal too. Our midfield for next season is looking ridiculous.

Offline the_red_pill

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Re: Liverpool agree deal to sign Naby Keita
« Reply #68 on: August 29, 2017, 02:03:59 pm »
Klopp doesn't piss around, does he?
Absolutely fantastic signing! Well.done.FSG! #fsgin

We've signalled our intent. That sounds like an understatement so let me say it again- WE'VE MADE AN EMPHATIC STATEMENT OF INTENT!
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In such a sumptuous festival of shite, I wouldn't be so quick to pick a winner..

But he'd make the shortlist

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Re: Liverpool agree deal to sign Naby Keita
« Reply #69 on: August 29, 2017, 02:09:08 pm »
A welcome to you Keith...in 2018.

Offline newterp

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Re: Liverpool agree deal to sign Naby Keita
« Reply #70 on: August 29, 2017, 02:11:49 pm »
Yeah goosebumps!
See this is the thing - he's ridiculous.
Watched him a bit last year then started to get into his numbers. He's a one off. You literally can't find a player that matches his ability to affect football matches from midfield. There are better passers, there are better out and out destroyers but there aren't better all round players - anywhere.

I know delayed gratification is a tough thing for us humans but this thread should be 20 pages long - we've signed a superstar in the making

Says a lot that Klopp basically wanted this to happen so much so that we persisted til the deal got done - even if it's for 10 months from now.

Offline Samie

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Re: Liverpool agree deal to sign Naby Keita
« Reply #71 on: August 29, 2017, 02:15:37 pm »

Offline Legoland

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Re: Liverpool agree deal to sign Naby Keita
« Reply #72 on: August 29, 2017, 02:15:59 pm »
Says something about what we've sold to him too.

The lad could have hung on till end of the season, and had his pick of teams.

Maybe gone to Real/ Barca/ Bayern.......who knows.

But he's committed to us already.

That in itself is remarkable to me.  He's sold on us, sold on Klopp and doesn't appear to view us as a stepping stone because if he held out till the end of the season, he most probably didn't need a stepping stone if he had ambitions to play for those other teams!

This for me is a turning point.

I was thinking the same thing.

Spot on.

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Offline Ibolette

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Re: Liverpool agree deal to sign Naby Keita
« Reply #74 on: August 29, 2017, 03:34:11 pm »
Signed up just to congratulate you guys on the signing. He is an incredible player who would find his way into any starting lineup in the world (except Real).  Love watching Leipzig and especially Keita play. He leaves my jaw dropped at least a handful of times a game. Very glad he chose you.

You guys should definitely check out some Leipzig games this season. Not only because of Keita, but just because they play some incredibly entertaining football and have a handful of very interesting players outside of Keita like Forsberg, Werner, Augustin, Bruma, Klostermann or Upamecano.
« Last Edit: August 29, 2017, 03:40:02 pm by Ibolette »

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Re: Liverpool agree deal to sign Naby Keita
« Reply #75 on: August 29, 2017, 03:42:14 pm »
Signed up just to congratulate you guys on the signing. He is an incredible player who would find his way into any starting lineup in the world (except Real).  Love watching Leipzig and especially Keita play. He leaves my jaw dropped at least a handful of times a game. Very glad he chose you guys.

You guys should definitely check out some Leipzig games this season. Not only because of Keita, but just because they play some incredibly entertaining football and have a handful of very interesting players outside of Keita like Forsberg, Werner, Augustin, Bruma, Klostermann or Upamecano.

Cheers mate. Are you a Leipzig fan? I watched a few of their games last season, started off because I was working in Kirkcaldy where Oliver Burke was born and all the locals were very excited about him, but obviously he didn't end up being particularly special! I carried on watching though, because in Keita, Forsberg and Werner they have some outstanding players and, as you say, play some really good stuff.

I'll definitely continue watching this year, when I can (though my subscription to BTSport that shows the Bundesliga over here has expired and my girl doesn't want me to renew  >:() because they are, on form, just a fantastic team to watch. Some of the new additions sound intriguing too.

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Re: Liverpool agree deal to sign Naby Keita
« Reply #76 on: August 29, 2017, 03:47:09 pm »
To quote what I said when I first found we were interested and people were dubious of him.

Quote
Quote
Quote from: Chief Skeptic on June 26, 2017, 11:55:54 AM
Wijnaldums probably a better like for like comparison.

Keita got 2 less assists and one more goal last season.


Again, I'm not saying I don't like the look of this guy.
I think this is a way too simplistic way to look at Keita. To cherry pick 2 metrics and compare him against players.

Instead, when I look at Keita, I see a 1-man midfield. For every team, the center midfield (usually composed of 2-4 players) has 4 tasks.
1. Protect Defence
2. Link Play
3. Create
4. Support the attack

Each of these is absolutely crucial and if any one of those is missing, the team will ultimately break down. I imagine if you look back to any poor performance (not result) where we just were never really in the game, our CM failed in at least one of those tasks.

Now while each player will contribute to those tasks, because of the extremely wide rage of skills needed you will usually notice in terms certain players taking up almost sole responsibility for tasks. For example, in most teams there will be a clear defensive midfielder if not, someone who tends to sit in front of the defence more often than not and only venture forward when there appears almost no risk to do so.

Thinking back to Rafa´s Masch-Xabi-Gerrard midfield. The reason it was so successful for us is it was at elite level in those 4 areas. Xabi is elite at linking and creating. Masch is elite destroyer. Gerrard elite at supporting the attack.

So with all that in mind, this is why I am so excited about Keita. He looks like the first midfielder I have seen that hits elite numbers in whatever task he is given. At Salzburg when he was played as a 6, he was putting up elite numbers. They moved him forward to a 10 position and he put up elite numbers as a 10 but also continued to display almost elite DM numbers despite playing as a 10. That is unheard of. To put that into context, that is like running a stats comparison to see how Kante, Dier, Busquets, Matic, etc compare and seeing Coutinho´s name pop up near the top in every metric. Or running a comparison of attacking matrics to see how Isco, Lallana, Gylfi etc compare and seeing Wanyama sitting near the top in almost every metric. It´s ridiculous and it shouldn´t happen. That´s why to stats people, Naby Keita is a freak. Statsbomb touched on this back in early 2016 when discussing who Arsenal should sign to solve their midfield problems. To paraphrase, they said whether Wenger wanted a 6, 8 or even 10 Keita was the answer.

But, stats are only one part of scouting a player. Watch him and tell me what you see. For me the first thing is tempo. Everything he does is fast. Watch Emre Can in midfield and one of the first problems you see is he slows down play and holds onto the ball far too long. When you are trying to break down a side, this is your worst nightmare. Whereas Keita´s locker is full of things that are perfect for these games. His ability to turn on the ball in tight spaces has been compared to that of Iniesta. His ability to break through the lines with a burst of pace and quick footwork is Coutinho-like. He loves quick combination passing too (and imagine with better players this is something we would see even more). He isn´t a high volume shot taker, but has long range goals in his locker too when he picks his moments. His recovery pace (and desire to do so) is also important to us in those times possession breaks down. In fact both him and Salah here would be crucial for this.

The classic "who does he remind you of" question doesn´t seem to fit him at all because almost any answer people give will seem like hyperbole. "Imagine Coutinho but with Mascherano´s defensive nous". "Imagine a hybrid of Kante & Ribery". So I will add one to the list.

For me he is an elite version of Spurs Dembele. Everything Dembele does, Keita is better as well as being a lot faster, more of a goal threat, more creative, and a lot more productive in terms of pressing and regaining possession. And I REALLY like Dembele. For me he is a fanastically well rounded midfielder to have if you are playing against a low block a lot or if playing against a high-pressing side.

Keita would be the player I we have ever been linked with that I am most excited about us signing. Ever.
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Offline Ibolette

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Re: Liverpool agree deal to sign Naby Keita
« Reply #77 on: August 29, 2017, 03:53:01 pm »
Cheers mate. Are you a Leipzig fan? I watched a few of their games last season, started off because I was working in Kirkcaldy where Oliver Burke was born and all the locals were very excited about him, but obviously he didn't end up being particularly special! I carried on watching though, because in Keita, Forsberg and Werner they have some outstanding players and, as you say, play some really good stuff.

I'll definitely continue watching this year, when I can (though my subscription to BTSport that shows the Bundesliga over here has expired and my girl doesn't want me to renew  >:() because they are, on form, just a fantastic team to watch. Some of the new additions sound intriguing too.

I'm primarily a Galatasaray fan but also have sympathies for Liverpool, Leipzig and Dortmund so try to catch as many games of them as possible. To me, Keita was maybe the best player in the Bundesliga last year. Many say Thiago, but Keita always leaves me a bit more impressed to be honest. Still a bit raw and inconsistent in some areas, but in my eyes one of the future top 3 CM's in the world. Maybe even the best


Perfect breakdown @BabuYagu
« Last Edit: August 29, 2017, 03:55:47 pm by Ibolette »

Offline invader_gir

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Re: Liverpool agree deal to sign Naby Keita
« Reply #78 on: August 29, 2017, 03:55:02 pm »
Another great signing. Only one downside to this. AFCON is gonna hit us hard in 2018/2019.
lol

It got moved to June bro. Read more.

Offline SerbianScouser

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Re: Liverpool agree deal to sign Naby Keita
« Reply #79 on: August 29, 2017, 03:57:36 pm »
I took a closer look at Keita when we were first linked with him in early spring and obviously it's not difficult to see why Klopp is enamoured with him.

Leipzig used this very weird 4222 formation and in the games I've seen him at for the most part he played as a 6 in a double pivot and wide 10 in others. He wins the ball back for fun but the biggest benefit from having him imo will be the penetration he provides through the middle - I don't think you can really put a price on it in modern football and it goes in line perfectly with who we are as a team.

We are at our best playing between the lines and almost every opponent is trying to direct us sideways where we are less effective, so to have somebody who can go through the middle it opens up the pitch for us and gives us endless possibilities with the front 3 that we have.

Can - Keita - Coutinho midfield is the dream of all dreams for me, shame that it probably won't happen, however I'm sure with Keita our build-up play and our ability against pressing will go up a notch which in theory should push our team onto a higher level overall.