Speaking recently on the Football Writers Podcast, Darren Lewis discussed the injury of Liverpool midfielder, Naby Keita.
Since joining Liverpool from RB Leipzig in what was a £54 million deal back in 2018, Keita has gone on to feature 68 times for the club, chipping in with seven goals and providing four assists along the way.
So far this season, the £36 million-rated 25-year-old has made five Premier League appearances for Jurgen Klopp’s side, over which he has averaged a slightly disappointing WhoScored match rating of 6.43 – ranking him as the club’s fifth-worst performer in the top flight.
In addition to his below-par performances, things got even worse for the midfielder during the club’s 3-0 victory over Leicester City on Sunday, in which he was withdrawn in the 54th minute due to a muscle injury.
And, the Guinea international was one topic of conversation on a recent episode of the Football Writers Podcast, in which Lewis stated his belief that Keita has been unfortunate with injuries thus far in his Liverpool career.
He said: “[His injury was] very unfortunate indeed. It’s been a really luckless spell for him at Liverpool since he’s arrived. They’re keeping faith with him because they know that there is a player there. And eventually, if they’re patient with him, they’ll get the player that they signed from Leipzig a couple of years ago.
“I think he’s a very unfortunate guy – and you could see the frustration etched in his face as he was coming off the pitch on Sunday – yet another opportunity to make his mark during a period in which they’ve been robbed of so many influential players and yet that’s taken away from him.”
Do you think Keita has been a success at Liverpool so far?
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TIF Thoughts on Darren Lewis’ comments regarding Naby Keita…
From Lewis’ comments, it is clear that the journalist feels sorry to Keita for the number of injuries the player has picked up in his time at Liverpool so far.
And, we have to say, considering the midfielder has been sidelined on eight different occasions since moving to Merseyside due to a variety of different injuries, he certainly does appear to have been extremely unfortunate with knocks thus far in his career at Anfield.