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‘Brilliant’ player is being forced to train alone by his new club just a year after leaving Liverpool
Liverpool’s midfield has essentially been revamped over the past 12 months with the old guard making way for a younger crop of players.
Under then-manager Jurgen Klopp, the Reds were active in the 2023 summer transfer window and offloaded as many as five players in the centre of the park.
Naby Keita was one of them, with the Guinean following Jordan Henderson, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, James Milner, and Fabinho out of the door at Anfield.
Liverpool reacted by snapping up Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch, Dominik Szoboszlai and Wataru Endo and the quartet breathed new life into the club as they finished third in the Premier League last season.
While the four other midfielders who left Liverpool last summer have endured varying degrees of success at their new club, things have gone south for Keita.
While he started strongly and showed flashes of brilliance, a combination of injuries and inconsistency meant the Anfield faithful never got to see the best of him as he joined Werder Bremen on a free transfer last summer.
Now, it appears as if things are set to go from bad to worse for the Guinean midfielder.
Ex-Liverpool man Naby Keita training alone at Werder Bremen
Werder Bremen confirmed in a statement that the decision was made for Keita, who was once branded ‘brilliant’ by Klopp [], to train away from the rest of their squad after talks with the player and his agent as they confirmed that the 29-year-old will now look for a transfer.
Speaking about the situation, Werder Bremen Managing Director of Football Clemens Fritz said this is the ‘most sensible decision’ for all parties involved as he provided the details behind his ‘honest conversation’ with Keita and his entourage.
Fritz was quoted as saying by : “On the one hand, we want to focus fully on the rest of the preparation and the start of the season. On the other hand, Naby had also been thinking about it for some time.
“Since his sporting situation has not changed again, he would like to look for a new challenge. Together with his advisor, we want to make this happen as soon as possible.”
Keita’s relationship with the club started to deteriorate at the business end of last season when he refused to travel with the matchday squad for their Bundesliga clash against Bayer Leverkusen in April.
The Bundesliga club responded by suspending Keita from the squad for the rest of the season and slapped him with a ‘substantial’ fine.
Later, also confirmed in a statement that Keita had been sanctioned for his no-show, and the midfielder hasn’t featured for the club since.
What does the future hold for Naby Keita?
To put it mildly, Keita’s career at the top is sadly drawing to an unfortunate climax by the looks of it. The midfielder played just 129 times for Liverpool across five seasons at the club as the Reds rightly opted against offering him a new contract.
Werder Bremen took a punt on him by snapping him up on a free transfer, but Keita’s misery continued on his return to Germany as he made a paltry five appearances for the club last season before kicking up a fuss and getting suspended.
The 29-year-old will now look for a new club but potential suitors might be put off by his injury record and conduct over the past few years.