So, who is Liverpool’s new record signing?

A CENTRAL midfielder from Guinea, 22-year-old Naby Keita exploded into the higher echelons of European football in his first season at RB Leipzig after joining from Red Bull Salzburg in the summer of 2016. His tireless work in defensive midfield and his penetrative qualities in attack have drawn regular comparisons with Chelsea’s N’Golo Kante, while others have found similarities with Keita’s idol, the peerless Andres Iniesta. Former Schalke player Hans Sarpei described him as ‘amazing’, saying that he ‘moves like music’, and his former coach at Salzburg Oscar Garcia says he is ‘one of the three best players I have ever coached’.

IS HE REALLY THAT GOOD?

He has been the natural flagbearer for Leipzig’s fierce pressing style, hunting down his opponents in midfield and never resting until he has won the ball back. It is he, more than any other player, who has glued together a Leipzig team who exceeded all expectations by finishing second in their maiden Bundesliga season. Keita says: ‘When I get on to the field, all I think about is how best to defend and win the ball back, about how best to support my team. That is my main task.’

SO, HE IS MAINLY A DEFENSIVE PLAYER?

Yes, and yet his qualities going forward have also been priceless. Having won the ball back, Keita is either the genesis or at the heart of their rapid counterattacks. With eight goals and eight assists in his 31 league appearances for the German club last season, Keita was one of the most prolific players in Ralph Hasenhuttl’s team, which is packed with attacking talent. He can direct an attack from the edge of the final third and also pop up as a poacher in the penalty area.

WILL HE SUIT THE PREMIER LEAGUE?

The comparisons with Kante are not for nothing — and he will bring a similar mixture of scrap, beguiling intelligence and razor-sharp penetration to Liverpool next season.