Keita flying under the radar

> Liverpool’s ‘new’ signing gets candid on passion, personality and following in Mane’s footsteps <

NABY KEITA (pix) finds himself in a rare place, a player who was a record buy for a club but will never be in a position to really justify his status in the truest sense.

This is a midfielder who broke new financial ground in agreeing to move to Anfield last August.

By the time he makes his competitive Liverpool debut, almost a year will have passed because the deal was only sanctioned by Red Bull Leipzig on the condition that the transfer was delayed by a season.

In the intervening 12 months, Liverpool have spent bigger on two other players, with the fees involved for Virgil van Dijk and then Alisson shifting attentions as well as immediate expectations.

There will be a sharp focus on Keita when Liverpool’s Premier League campaign begins at home to West Ham but the focus might not quite be as sharp as it is on Alisson, particularly when the visiting team send their first corner of the afternoon into Liverpool’s penalty box.

Keita also has the advantage of not being the only addition to Liverpool’s engine room this summer, with the eye-catching recruitment of Monaco’s Fabinho also involving considerable cost.

Anyone watching Liverpool’s preseason, though, would probably agree that presently, Keita seems more up to speed with his new surroundings.

As he spoke to The Independent, it was interesting to hear how he describes himself.

At 23, he has already played in France, Austria and Germany but considering a saga that brought him to Merseyside, one that lasted the whole of summer 2017 – considering too the lengths Liverpool went to get him and the fee they were willing to pay, the Guinean’s profile means he is nevertheless not the sort of name you