Naby Keita had Jurgen Klopp saying ‘wow’ with his brief cameo against Manchester City on Saturday. The Liverpool boss loved what he saw.
Naby Keita only got on the pitch for five minutes against Manchester City – well, technically 12 if you include stoppage time. It wasn’t exactly a lot of time to get anything done, then.
And yet Jurgen Klopp was saying ‘wow’ about the Guinean after the game. Klopp made no secret about his joy surrounding the substitutes against Manchester City, with Darwin Nunez standing tall in the 3-1 win.
But he wasn’t the only Liverpool sub to impress the boss.
“We have space to improve the quality from the bench, but I’m really excited about it, [about] what is coming there,” he said, per Liverpoolfc.com. “I love Harvey’s impact, [it] probably came a bit late, only because of set-pieces, we were not sure [with] how to deal with it.
“Millie is, I am not sure which level he can reach this year to be honest, it looks very promising with Millie. Curt [and] Naby… wow when Naby came on.”
Naby Keita impresses with cameo
Not many players can impress in five minutes – especially with a grand total of four touches. Keita managed one shot in that time but little else of note in terms of raw stats
But his energy levels and his pressing were both first class on his arrival. That’s what will truly impress Klopp here – the fact that Keita can get on right at the end of the game and inject energy without lowering the overall quality.
Now, Keita will certainly want a bigger role than that this season but it’s a trait that also translates into rotation. The Guinean will start plenty and get some big games under his belt. Klopp can afford to hand him those because he knows Keita will deliver the fundamentals he needs in this team.
And that’s huge for the player as he’s now in the final year of his contract. The more he can get Klopp saying ‘wow’, the more likely he is to get the contract we assume he wants.
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