The only question that still arises about the transfer activity of Liverpool – and how Naby Keita could be the answer



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For a manager whose reputation is based on human management, it is Jurgen Klopp's pbadion for the tactical nuances that really emerges from close up.

A spark ignites in the Liverpool boss when he speaks tactically. machine gun.

Take his introduction to Fabinho in May, for example. "He has the ability and the mentality to play at the highest level in a number of positions," he said. "It can play" 6 "," 8 "and" 2 ". It's cool."

We did not know too much about Fabinho when he signed Monaco in a £ 39.3 million contract, but the same could not be said of Naby Keita.

After all, 12 months ago Get acquainted with the idea of ​​Guinean in the Liverpool midfield, anticipating where and how he could line up at Anfield.

The common consensus has been reached. He is the No. 8 traditional modern football player, a box-to-box player with the defensive abilities to stop and attack the instinct to create. In a midfield of three, he knit the other two, serving as support for his deeper teammate and a more advanced man supplement.

Indeed, it is mostly where he presented up here in pre-season for Liverpool, even though he missed Wednesday's 2-1 win over Manchester City because of A neck injury.

This is after the Reds' first game in the United States, defeat at Dortmund in Charlotte, where Klopp offered a more revealing insight into his plans for another of his comebacks. 39; summer.

"We got him because he's the player he is and now we want to work with that," Klopp told Keita. "It means first and foremost that we let him go and adapt to our system."

"I see it as an" 8 ", it can play" 10 "too, maybe in the future it can also play" 6 " 19659002] "In Leipzig, he played as a winger, this is surely not his best position but he can play there because he has the speed for that, he has the intelligence of football for it.

"We see him as a creator # 8 playing the pbades and racing with the ball."



Naby Keita wearing No. 8

No. 8 on his shirt and No. 8 in his style, it seems.

Klopp then alludes to one of the strengths of the 23-year-old athlete: his versatility, and more specifically his ability to play as number 10.

Liverpool's clamor for replace Philippe Coutinho following his departure in January continues. For a section of observers, the Reds remain light in this department; After initial attempts to bridge this gap with Nabil Fekir, his aborted transfer means that there is still a gap to be filled.

Klopp is not in agreement, Liverpool being unlikely to make any other important business this summer.

clues as to why that is. Daniel Sturridge has adapted his game and shows a desire to operate more deeply, adding more creativity to his game; Curtis Jones, meanwhile, was a break star this summer and was impressive against City, taking positions reminiscent of Coutinho.

Liverpool also has a new number 10 in Mane after the Senegalese star took the vacant jersey. His role changed after the Brazilian sale, dropping deeper and more central with more regularity, seeking to create deeper than before.

Yet it may be Keita who holds the key. The midfielder has played this role of "second midfielder", No. 8, for most of the summer up to now. This is undoubtedly the position that maximizes his abilities, allowing him to go up the field, to carry the ball in space and turn defense into attack.

When Keita enters these advanced positions, however, he was magnificent. Sturridge in particular has been a beneficiary of his slide rule pbades, guided in his kick with laser precision.

Although he worked more deeply for most of his RB Leipzig career, he performed a virtuoso performance against Bayern Munich that position, scoring one and helping the other in a 2 victory. -1, albeit in a 3-4-2-1 set-up. Keita had an important role against Bayern in the 2-1 victory of Leipzig in March 2018

He is not a replacement for Coutinho, but it has become apparent that few of them exist. Instead, Klopp will seek to twist his side to make the most of those at his disposal at Anfield.

Mane, Sturridge, Adam Lallana and even Jones staked their respective claims for degrees of inclusion, but it could be Keita who

With the arrival of Fabinho, as well as Jordan Henderson who occupies the first place in the team, there is potential for the three teams, Lallana, James Milner and Gini Wijnaldum

Keita arrived at the signature of everyone thought that they knew all about

But he could provide one last surprise and prove an option in an unlikely role – and, in the process, answer the question asked most of Klopp and Liverpool for the rest of this transfer window.

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