Keita — Leipzig’s Liverpool-bound midfield engine
Berlin: Liverpool-bound Naby Keita has hit the headlines for allegedly using a forged driving licence in Germany, but he is RB Leipzig’s midfield engine who one day hopes to play for Barcelona.
The 22-year-old box-to-box midfielder was a key component in Leipzig’s stunning first season in the Bundesliga when they briefly kept Bayern Munich off top spot before finishing second in the 2016/17 campaign.
He has had a tough start to this season following the August announcement that he will join Liverpool for 2018/19.
Keita was sent off three times in seven games for club and country including a yellow-red in the German Cup, second round, defeat at home to Bayern Munich last month.
He also fell offside with German police when it emerged at the weekend that he is accused of forgery after twice using a fake Guinea licence in his attempts to obtain a German driving permit. He is appealing a reported fine of 415,000 euros.
Keita was born in Guinea’s capital Conakry on February 10, 1995 and as a child used to enjoy kicking anything round — often with expensive results.
“I always looked forward to going to the supermarket with my mother,” he told Bundesliga.com.
“There were a lot of round things to play football with. Unfortunately, there were also things like lampshades, which got broken. My mum always says that shopping with me was very expensive.”
While still a teenager, he left his hometown club of Horoya AC to join FC Istres in 2013 when the club were in France’s second division.
He netted four goals and provided seven assists in 23 appearances during an impressive Ligue 2 campaign which attracted the attention of Austrian outfit Red Bull Salzburg in 2014.