Sky Sports pundit and former Liverpool man Stephen Warnock has given his view on Naby Keita and his usefulness to the club moving forward.
One of the main problems that hindered Liverpool and their title defence last season was their rather large catalogue of injuries which forced a number of players to play out of position to try and make ends meet.
And whilst not on the same scale, injuries have started to pop up again this season, with the likes of Naby Keita having picked up a knock that put him on the bench during their recent Champions League win over Porto, adding to another first-team injury in the form of Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Speaking about the injury situation and his concerns on Sky Sports, Warnock didn’t provide the most optimistic output when talking about the Guinean and his track record when it comes to availability:
“Naby Keita, he’s the worry. Can’t really put a run of games together without getting injured.”
TIF Thoughts on Stephen Warnock’s comments about Liverpool’s squad
Do you think Liverpool should sell Keita?
No, give him a bit longer
Yes, he has failed
Warnock is right to be concerned when it comes to 26-year-old Keita and his injury problems, which have caused him to miss a large number of games ever since he first joined the club back in the summer of 2018.
As a result of that, he’s only been able to make more than 20 Premier League appearances in a single campaign on one occasion and bagged just eight goals for the Reds.
With the likes of Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott (before his horrific injury), emerging at the club in recent months, you could argue that Keita’s usefulness seems to be ever decreasing as more players show their ability to Jürgen Klopp.
And whilst it might seem harsh, if Keita can’t prove himself to get over these problems soon, then it might just be time for the club to consider moving him on and focusing on those that can be more reliable moving forward, rather than keeping themselves tied to someone who simply cannot be trusted to be available for large parts of the season.
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