Former Liverpool player Naby Keita had chance to play in the Championship this season

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Liverpool’s summer of 2023 saw the most stark change in the first-team squad for quite some time.

Jurgen Klopp oversaw a massive overhaul of the team who had made his time with the Reds such a success.

Out went Jordan Henderson, Roberto Firmino, James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Fabinho and Naby Keita, in came Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch.

Klopp called it ‘Liverpool 2.0′ and it was easy to see why. The six players heading out of the door at Anfield had won everything possible with the Reds, making well over 1,500 appearances between them. It was a new dawn.

But despite their glorious shared time with Liverpool, things have not gone especially well for the half-dozen former stars in the past year.

Naby Keita had chance for Sunderland move

Of the six players to leave Liverpool last summer, one – Jordan Henderson – is already on his second club in the past year.

There were reports that Oxlade-Chamberlain could leave Besiktas this summer, too, having failed to light up the Turkish Super Lig.

Fabinho and Milner have both struggled with injury for Al Ittihad and Brighton respectively, while Firmino did not have the best season with Al Ahli, either.

But despite the struggles of those five, none have had a worse time than poor old Keita.

READ MORE: Liverpool’s 27 most expensive signings of all time including Naby Keita

After signing for Werder Bremen last summer there was hope that the Guinean could get back on track. But having featured just five times for the German side, Keita was told he can leave the club in August.

With Keita seemingly free to leave Bremen for nothing, normal transfer window rules don’t apply here. And according to journalist Ed Aarons, Naby has been in talks with a couple of clubs over a move.

Taking to X, Aarons says that while Keita is currently negotiating with Turkish side Istanbul Basaksehir, the 29-year-old also quite bizarrely spoke to Sunderland over a move to the Championship.

“Understand that Naby Keita is in talks with Istanbul Basaksehir over a potential move from Werder Bremen,” says Aarons. “The former Liverpool midfielder also had interest from Sunderland but couldn’t agree terms.”

What next for Naby Keita?

This is quite sad to see. When he arrived at Liverpool in 2018, Keita was billed as the answer to the Reds’ midfield issues.

And while the Guinea international did show some excellence during his half-decade at Anfield – and contributed heavily to trophies won – there is no escaping that he did not fulfil his potential.

Now ticking into his 30’s, it looks inevitable that Keita’s career will not have a post-Liverpool peak.

But while it is no doubt a huge surprise to hear that Naby could have been turning out in the Championship, Sunderland might have been a good move for him.

With four wins out of four this season the Black Cats are looking good for a promotion challenge. That could have been the route back to the top Keita needed. Instead, a move to Basaksehir and Turkey may simply be more of the same.