Barcelona ‘leading race’ for Liverpool star
Reports coming out of Spain claim FC Barcelona are leading the race for Liverpool midfielder, Naby Keita.
Keita’s Liverpool stint
Keita joined Liverpool in 2018 from German outfit RB Leipzig, for a reported fee of £54m.
The African had stood as one of the Bundesliga’s standout talents during his stint with Leipzig, with Liverpool’s fans having no doubt been excited to see what their latest addition could do in the Premier League.
However, since making the switch to Anfield, it is fair to say that Keita has very much underwhelmed.
The midfielder has been plagued by injury and fitness issues during his time on Merseyside, and also contracted Covid-19 last season.
But even when fit, Jurgen Klopp doesn’t seem to trust the former RB Salzburg man too much.
Instead, a midfield trio of Georginio Wijnaldum, Jordan Henderson and Fabinho had previously been the German’s go-to throughout what has been Liverpool’s most successful period for many years.
Barcelona leading race for Keita
And, even with Wijnaldum gone, it remains clear that Klopp does not trust the African an awful lot.
This was once again apparent vs Chelsea this past weekend when, even though Thiago and Harvey Elliott were out through injury, Keita could still not get a start in midfield, with an ageing James Milner instead taking his spot in the eleven.
So, it is not at all surprising to see Spanish outlet El Nacional claim that Klopp is open to letting Keita depart Anfield, albeit likely in the summer.
In terms of who is interested in Keita’s services, all of Bayern Munich, West Ham, AC Milan and Rome are named by El Nacional, though they do claim that Barcelona are the team leading the race for Keita:
However, they point out that Barça is the team that leads the race to win over Keita, which is very much to Xavi Hernández’s liking
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Premier League table
| # | Team | MP | D | P |
| 1 | Manchester City | 21 | 40 | 53 |
| 2 | Chelsea FC | 21 | 29 | 43 |
| 3 | Liverpool FC | 20 | 34 | 42 |
| 4 | Arsenal FC | 20 | 8 | 35 |
| 5 | West Ham United | 20 | 10 | 34 |
| 6 | Tottenham Hotspur | 18 | 3 | 33 |
| 7 | Manchester United | 19 | 3 | 31 |
| 8 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 19 | 0 | 28 |
| 9 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 19 | 0 | 27 |
| 10 | Leicester City | 18 | -2 | 25 |
| 11 | Crystal Palace | 20 | -1 | 23 |
| 12 | Brentford FC | 19 | -3 | 23 |
| 13 | Aston Villa | 19 | -5 | 22 |
| 14 | Southampton FC | 19 | -9 | 21 |
| 15 | Everton FC | 18 | -9 | 19 |
| 16 | Leeds United | 19 | -16 | 19 |
| 17 | Watford FC | 18 | -14 | 13 |
| 18 | Burnley FC | 17 | -11 | 11 |
| 19 | Newcastle United | 19 | -23 | 11 |
| 20 | Norwich City | 19 | -34 | 10 |
| Player | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| Salah, Mohamed | Liverpool FC | 16 |
| Jota, Diogo | Liverpool FC | 10 |
| Vardy, Jamie | Leicester City | 9 |
| Dennis, Emmanuel | Watford FC | 8 |
| Antonio, Michail | West Ham United | 8 |
| Ronaldo, Cristiano | Manchester United | 8 |
| Son, Heung Min | Tottenham Hotspur | 8 |
| Smith-Rowe, Emile | Arsenal FC | 8 |
| Mane, Sadio | Liverpool FC | 8 |
| Raphinha | Leeds United | 8 |
| Mount, Mason | Chelsea FC | 7 |
| Sterling, Raheem | Manchester City | 7 |
| Maupay, Neal | Brighton & Hove Albion | 7 |
| Silva, Bernardo | Manchester City | 7 |
| Mahrez, Riyad | Manchester City | 6 |
| Saka, Bukayo | Arsenal FC | 6 |
| Gallagher, Conor | Crystal Palace | 6 |
| Jorginho | Chelsea FC | 6 |
| Wilson, Callum | Newcastle United | 6 |
| Cornet, Maxwel | Burnley FC | 6 |
| Player | Team | Red Cards | Yellow Cards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salisu, Mohammed | Southampton FC | 0 | 6 |
| Dennis, Emmanuel | Watford FC | 0 | 6 |
| Tarkowski, James | Burnley FC | 0 | 6 |
| Laporte, Aymeric | Manchester City | 1 | 5 |
| Neves, Ruben | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 0 | 6 |
| Bissouma, Yves | Brighton & Hove Albion | 0 | 6 |
| Skipp, Oliver | Tottenham Hotspur | 0 | 6 |
| James, Reece | Chelsea FC | 1 | 4 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United | 0 | 5 |
| Silva, Bernardo | Manchester City | 0 | 5 |
| Pogba, Paul | Manchester United | 1 | 4 |
| Cancelo, Joao | Manchester City | 0 | 5 |
| Robertson, Andy | Liverpool FC | 1 | 4 |
| McGinn, John | Aston Villa | 0 | 5 |
| Canos, Sergi | Brentford FC | 0 | 5 |
| Rice, Declan | West Ham United | 0 | 5 |
| Richarlison | Everton FC | 0 | 5 |
| Rodri | Manchester City | 0 | 5 |
| Ritchie, Matt | Newcastle United | 0 | 5 |
| Westwood, Ashley | Burnley FC | 0 | 5 |
| Player | Team | Assists |
|---|---|---|
| Alexander-Arnold, Trent | Liverpool FC | 9 |
| Salah, Mohamed | Liverpool FC | 8 |
| Bowen, Jarrod | West Ham United | 7 |
| Jesus, Gabriel | Manchester City | 7 |
| Pogba, Paul | Manchester United | 7 |
| Dennis, Emmanuel | Watford FC | 5 |
| Mount, Mason | Chelsea FC | 5 |
| James, Reece | Chelsea FC | 5 |
| Kovacic, Mateo | Chelsea FC | 5 |
| Cancelo, Joao | Manchester City | 5 |
| Robertson, Andy | Liverpool FC | 5 |
| Antonio, Michail | West Ham United | 4 |
| Mahrez, Riyad | Manchester City | 4 |
| Saka, Bukayo | Arsenal FC | 4 |
| Benrahma, Said | West Ham United | 4 |
| Doucoure, Abdoulaye | Everton FC | 4 |
| Rice, Declan | West Ham United | 4 |
| Redmond, Nathan | Southampton FC | 4 |
| Ronaldo, Cristiano | Manchester United | 3 |
| Son, Heung Min | Tottenham Hotspur | 3 |
