Liverpool operated at a considerable level of efficiency in the transfer market across the sweeping spell of Jurgen Klopp’s reign. It’s been a few days over nine years since the German replaced Brendan Rodgers at the helm, and oh how the Reds rose.
Of course, Klopp is in the dugout no longer, having stepped down from his managerial duties at the end of last season, since taking up a new job with Red Bull Sports Group as the earthwide organisation’s Head of Global Soccer.
From shrewd signings like Andy Robertson and Gini Wijnaldum to mammoth moves for Alisson Becker and Virgil van Dijk, two of the world’s finest to this day, Liverpool hit the jackpot in the market almost unerringly – there were only one or two arrivals who truly flattered to deceive.
There’s one flop above all others though. Of course, Naby Keita has got to be at the nadir across Klopp’s tenure, with injuries causing Liverpool to have wasted a significant sum.
Why Liverpool signed Naby Keita
Klopp’s Liverpool was taking off. With the 2016/17 campaign concluded, his first full term, the Merseysiders had restored their place in the Champions League and had established a framework for future illustrious heights that even then seemed like a far-fetched dream.
In August 2017, the club agreed a pre-contract move for Guinea international Keita, though the deal would not take place until the following summer. To achieve the signing, Liverpool agreed to meet the RB Leipzig star’s £48m release clause plus an undisclosed premium.
The Merseysiders were on the cusp of greatness, and no doubt fuelled Keita with excitement during the 2017/18 campaign, as he awaited the completion of his prospective venture, clinching Champions League football for a successive year and even reaching the prestigious competition’s final, albeit losing against Real Madrid.
Klopp was an ardent admirer of the dynamic midfielder’s properties, with his performances in Germany earning him acclaim and leading BBC reporter Steve Crossman to pronounce him as appearing to be ‘two players’, such was the dominance and ubiquity of his presence on the pitch.
He was immense, indestructible. Nothing could go wrong, only the improbable chance of developing brittle bones and fragile muscles, falling to shocking depths of injury issues.
That, dear reader, is exactly what happened.
Naby Keita's Liverpool career in numbers
Liverpool completed the signing of Keita in July 2018, with the total figure for his arrival believed to total around £53m. It was viewed as the statement move that the club had not realised for many, many years.
Gone were the days of woe, the time of languishing and strife. Liverpool had been pieced back together but now, possibly, was a new era, a golden sky painted across Merseyside, signalling the end of the storm.
Keita was supposed to be the linchpin. Possibly it’s doubly impressive that Liverpool’s new-found attacking power and fear factor was a mere overture to dominance: silver-laden success in the Premier League and Champions League both, with a range of cup triumphs to follow.
Initially compared to legend Steven Gerrard by former Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier, Keita played just 84 times in the Premier League across his five-year stint at Anfield, equating to about 17 Premier League outings per term.
More shockingly, though, was that the Guinean only managed 90 minutes on 12 occasions in the top flight, which is a sharp illustration of the fitness struggles that precluded lasting influence on the field.
According to Transfermarkt, Keita missed 122 competitive matches throughout this sizeable portion of his career, ravaging any hopes of producing more than mild efforts, only tinctured with some of that once-mighty promise.
Such talent, such potential. Keita is one of Liverpool’s all-time ‘what-ifs’, for he could have been one of the very best players to have worn the red shirt, one of the finest Premier League midfielders, a centrepiece throughout a club’s stunning run of trophy-rich years.
Keita’s time in England, sadly, devolved into something of a nightmare, with the aforementioned injury problems limiting him to the most bit-part of roles. It was a disaster for both parties, with Liverpool, in hindsight, splurging a significant sum of money.
How much Naby Keita cost Liverpool
On top of the £53m figure that Liverpool coughed up to clinch Keita’s services, the nimble midfielder also took home a pretty penny.
Indeed, Keita earned £120k per week while at the Premier League outfit. He never extended his contract but did see it out, meaning that Klopp’s decision cost Liverpool some £18m in wages alone. Pair that up with the ace’s transfer fee, and it can be found that he bled Liverpool by some £71m in total, or £14m per campaign.
1.
Mohamed Salah
£350k-per-week
2.
Virgil van Dijk
£220k-per-week
3.
Thiago Alcantara
£200k-per-week
4.
Roberto Firmino
£180k-per-week
4.
Fabinho
£180k-per-week
4.
Trent Alexander-Arnold
£180k-per-week
7.
Alisson Becker
£150k-per-week
8.
Darwin Nunez
£140k-per-week
8.
Diogo Jota
£140k-per-week
8.
Jordan Henderson
£140k-per-week
11.
Naby Keita
£120k-per-week
11.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
£120k-per-week
As you can see from the table above, he wasn’t the top earner – or even in the upper bracket – but £120k per week is no small sum and it’s a colossal waste of money for a player who simply can’t register their availability anything more than intermittently – let alone bringing fluency and tactical experience into the mix.
It meant that he took home far more than, for example, Ibrahima Konate, whose £70k-per-week contract might only be approaching an upgrade, with Liverpool looking to tie the centre-back down to a new deal.
Reporter Charlotte Coates even described the deal as the “worst signing” of the Klopp era, and it’s hard to dispute otherwise. Keita might not have earned the staggering sums that some of Liverpool’s most renowned of stars do but this is down to his failure to even merit consideration of a fresh deal – something that the titanic Konate, who has been imperious under Arne Slot this season, is now at the centre of.
In the grand scheme of things, Liverpool’s failed attempt to sign a midfielder for the ages didn’t prove too costly, but it’s rueful to think of the heights that might have been reached with a fully-fit Keita in Klopp’s finest team.
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