‘Incredible’ Liverpool player looks to have sealed his exit with last night’s news – RTK view

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Naby Keita may have sealed his exit from Liverpool as he missed the squad to face Manchester United last night. He’s out of contract in 2023.

Naby Keita faced a massive six weeks. With Thiago out injured, the Guinean was in line for first-team football at a very, very important time for him.

Keita is out of contract at the end of the season, after all, and there’s not much talk that a new one is close. There’s little doubt that Liverpool have one on the table for him but it might not be what Keita wants.

Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg claims that the player is after regular first-team football. He doesn’t get that at Liverpool but Thiago’s absence handed him a chance to earn it. At the very least, good performances would earn the trust to play more often, if not completely usurp the Spaniard.

No game offered a better chance to do that than against Manchester United at Old Trafford. Keita was magnificent there last season, and the spotlight would firmly be on him. But then another injury struck.

Naby Keita may have sealed his exit

This injury couldn’t come at a worse time. Plettenberg labelled this one a ‘very important’ game for Keita’s case but he wasn’t in the squad on Monday evening. Instead, Harvey Elliott and James Milner started in his place.

Milner, of course, is a veteran player and one who could also depart at the end of the season. Elliott, though, is a massive problem for Keita. He’s far younger, impressing regularly and it may be impossible to get back ahead of him if he does step ahead in the pecking order.

At the very least, Keita has lost out on a massive chance to shine before Thiago returns. He’s a player with ‘incredible’ talent, of course, but that works against the chances of a new contract, in some ways.

That talent means Keita should be starting regularly for a top side. That isn’t happening at Liverpool, though, and the player might need a guarantee in order to renew his deal. Missing the Old Trafford trip could end the chances of Keita getting that, however.