Liverpool is preparing to lose Naby Keïta on a free in the summer and that means Jürgen Klopp needs to enter the transfer market. Plans are being put in place.
For all that Naby Keïta has found himself in the Liverpool starting XI for each of the last four matches, helping improve — though not completely fix — the midfield, the expectation has been for some time now that he will leave Anfield in the summer.
Five years after signing for $64m (£54m/€60m) from RB Leipzig, Keïta’s contract is running down and Liverpool has to make the ruthless decision with a number of players as it refreshes its squad.
He is fit at the moment, but the simple fact is that he has not been often enough since arriving in 2018. An average of 29 appearances per season in his first four campaigns (before he spent the first half of this campaign on the sidelines) tells its own story.
That means that as part of the summer rebuild, Keïta will be allowed to move on for nothing. Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg reports that he is ‘on the verge’ of being certain to leave. In truth, it has felt that way for a while.
Talks with various clubs are supposedly underway, with a return to Germany, where he made his name, deemed likely, but a move to Turkey with Galatasaray ruled out.
When Keïta does go, a space will be made available for a new addition in the center of the pitch. Jude Bellingham, of course, is Liverpool’s number one target, but the Borussia Dortmund man cannot be the sole solution, not least because Keïta will not be the only body to go.
As The Telegraph reported last month, Liverpool remains keen on Wolves midfielder Matheus Nunes. Fabrizio Romano reported the same thing again on Tuesday.
Available for a similar amount to what Wolves paid Sporting Lisbon for the player last summer, Liverpool will end up needing to part with around $54m (£44m/€50m) for Nunes — a reasonable deal, albeit one that should have been done when he left Portugal rather than 12 months later.
Nunes has a lot of similar traits to what Keïta should have offered Liverpool at his peak: chiefly, the ability to relieve pressure by dribbling and making the right decisions in the middle and final thirds.
The Brazilian-born number eight is in the 85th percentile for progressive carries, and the 82nd for successful take-ons. He really stands out for progressive passes received, lying in the 94th percentile.
Liverpool midfielder Naby Keïta. (Image: Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Like Keïta, Nunes is a different type of midfielder from what you might typically associate with Jürgen Klopp, but his ability to keep possession under pressure and decisively move it forward is exactly what Liverpool is currently missing.
The 24-year-old Portuguese international might need to work a little on matching Keïta’s defensive work — the Guinean is surprisingly high for tackles (69th percentile) and blocks (96th percentile) — but certainly betters him in terms of availability and robustness.
Keïta has missed 86 matches since the start of the 2018 season when he came to Liverpool. Nunes, by contrast, has only missed four in his whole career, three of which came in the same week this season when he picked up a shoulder injury.
In short, if Nunes does arrive at Liverpool in the summer, Keïta will be adequately replaced in terms of quality and style, and considerably upgraded in terms of availability. Hopefully, he can come in with Bellingham alongside him.
