It has been an eventful January for the Liverpool fans. They have seen the club spend a record sum on Virgil van Dijk, only to sell their talisman Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona just days later. They are now in desperate search of replacements, who can help Liverpool, not just for the rest of the season, but for years to come.
They might not be able to land their top transfer targets mid-way through the season and are now looking to bring in Guinean international Naby Keita early to Anfield.
The RB Leipzig star has signed a contract with Liverpool, to join them at the end of the current season but Coutinho’s sale has seen the Reds contact the Bundesliga outfit, to try and get him to the club a few months early.
Recent reports suggest that Liverpool have had a breakthrough in talks with the German outfit and that he may be playing his last game for them this weekend. Liverpool may have to pay over €10m to sign him early but how will Liverpool look with their dynamic midfielder?
Van Dijk’s addition has improved Liverpool’s backline while Mohamed Salah is looking electric at the other end. Liverpool’s biggest problem now (after the Gk’s position) is in their midfield and Keita solves this problem immediately, at least a part of it.
A box-to-box midfielder who can play as a part of a two-man midfield, Keita is at his best playing on either side of a three-man midfield and fits in straight away into Philippe Coutinho’s role on the left side of Liverpool’s CDM.
Jordan Henderson and Emre Can have played in the CDM role this season and though Keita can put in a good shift in that position, he is more suited in a slightly aggressive role. Though he may not be able to replace Coutinho’s spark and creativity in the final third, he does replace him in the straight-swap in the midfield.
He can play on the left side of the midfield in Liverpool’s 4-3-3, leaving Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Adam Lallana, Georginio Wijnaldum and James Milner as options on the other side of the midfield.
Emre Can may yet quit the club and Klopp’s fluid approach to his game might see Keita replace him in the no.8 role but Liverpool are better off spending on another CDM, keeping Keita in Coutinho’s position.
This is how Liverpool’s strongest XI, with Keita in the midfield, will look like, in a 4-3-3 system
GK – Simon Mignolet
DEF – Joe Gomez, Joel Matip, Virgil van Dijk, Alberto Moreno / Andrew Robertson
MID – Jordan Henderson / Emre Can, Lallana / Ox / Wijnaldum, Naby Keita
ATT – Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane
Here is how they might line up:
