Naby Keita was today spotted in Liverpool training as he prepares to make his comeback from three months out injured.
As per Liverpool FC on Twitter, Keita joined in today’s session ahead of the Reds trip to Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
The 27-year-old hasn’t played since Liverpool’s Community Shield win on the last day of July. He did return to training in-between, but quickly broke down again.
It’s unlikely that Keita will be in the travelling squad on Saturday. But given that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was back on the bench last night after a similar layoff, perhaps he’ll be a surprise inclusion.
Welcome back, Naby!
Keita enters last chance saloon at Liverpool
Finally, Liverpool just about have a full complement of midfielders back fit. The sight of Oxlade-Chamberlain on the bench last night was a welcome one, while Curtis Jones also got his first competitive minutes of the season.
Added to Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, Thiago Alcantara, Harvey Elliott and James Milner, Klopp is now spoilt for choice. Only Arthur Melo remains out.
Unfortunately, past experience informs us that this is unlikely to last very long. But hopefully things can finally be different this time around.
For Keita, he desperately needs it to be. There has been a lot of chatter about his Liverpool future in recent months, and he now has a chance to prove why he deserves a new contract.
At this point, it feels unlikely that the No.8’s stay at Anfield will stretch beyond this season. But the campaign is still very young. With Guinea not at the World Cup, Keita will get a chance to build his fitness over the next couple of months.
There’s still a long time for him to show that he deserves the starting spot he reportedly so craves at Liverpool. The road to doing that needs to start now.
In Keita’s absence Liverpool have switched to a two-man midfield. As a result, places in the team are now even harder to come by.
With Fabinho out of form and Jordan Henderson picking up some niggly knocks, there’s still a spot to nail down next to Thiago Alcantara. Klopp has always stood by him, calling him ‘outstanding’ via liverpoolfc.com in April. The rest is now up to Naby.
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