Liverpool staff believe Naby Keita never fully adapted to the intensity and physicality of the English game.
Keita is set to leave the Reds after five underwhelming years this summer. His time at the club has coincided with a hugely successful period for Liverpool. But unfortunately. Naby himself will always be remembered for his pure inability to keep himself fit.
Digging into the ins and outs of why the Guinean never truly got going at Anfield, The Athletic have spoken to staff at the club to find out why they think that is.
The main takeaway is that there’s a feeling inside the club that Keita never adjusted to the change in intensity from his time in Germany. Despite the club reportedly trying all sorts of recovery techniques, the 28-year-old also continued to take longer than expected to get fit following setbacks.
Following on from this, there’s claimed to be a feeling that so many setbacks knocked Keita’s confidence. As a result, he said to have lost the will to really push himself physically.
Keita set for Bundesliga return
Throughout most of Keita’s time at Liverpool, there remained a hope that he could turn things around. Rewind back to this time last year and there appeared to be a genuine belief that the Guinea international would sign a new contract.
At that time, it looked like he might be due one, too. Having bounced back from persistent issues in the previous four years, 2021/22 saw him feature 40 times in all competitions.
Still only twenty-seven, there was a feeling that perhaps Naby could still come good at Anfield.
Luckily though, Liverpool didn’t commit to a new deal for their No.8. Imagine if the Reds had followed through on talks only to see him play just 13 times the following campaign. With a big wage on their books, the promised midfield rebuild may have hit the buffers slightly.
Thankfully, things have instead taken their natural course.
It will be fascinating for Liverpool fans to watch the next steps of Keita’s career. The Athletic report that a return to Germany looks most likely for him, and he’ll certainly have some high-level suitors.
Should those suitors bring Keita in and he goes on to be regularly fit and available, there will be frustration on Merseyside. But it will also feed into the theory that Naby just never got to grips with what was needed to play in England. Hopefully his next chapter ends up being a better fit.