SMASH and NAB
Klopp waited a year for Keita and is confident his patience will be rewarded by his brilliant midfielder driving Liverpool to even greater heights in Europe this season.. REAL MADRID BEWARE
FOR Jurgen Klopp, good things really do come to those who wait.
The Liverpool manager believes his policy of refusing to settle for second best, and instead remaining patient for his No.1 targets, will finally pay dividends this season.
Not only did he decline to hit the panic button when he could not get Virgil van Dijk last summer, Klopp also remained calm enough to agree a deal that made him pause for a whole year in his wait for Naby Keita.
Already, after just three games, it seems worth it.
Now Liverpool hope he can provide the platform for the team to go one step better than they managed in last season’s Champions League, when suffering heartbreaking final defeat by Real Madrid.
The Reds could get an early reunion with Madrid and bogeyman Sergio Ramos when the draw takes place this evening.
If that happens, the Spanish giants will discover Liverpool have a new dimension, with Keita’s ability to provide the missing link between defence and attack.
Capturing the Guinea international for £52.75million looks like a coup for Klopp (with Keita, right).
And former Red turned TV pundit Danny Murphy said: “Keita will be the Premier League’s best signing this summer. Liverpool will expect a lot from him and I’m expecting him to take them to the next level. He’s very dynamic, very powerful and very quick.
“It is an incredible transfer that could allow them to close the gap on Manchester City.”
Klopp was in no doubt. He has spoken several times of the need to be forensic in the search for players, and to trust the squad he has, if he cannot immediately secure a target he knows will improve it. That stance has had more resonance recently with Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward.
He briefed that his club were reluctant to spend on targets third and fourth on their list, when they were no better than the players already there.
For Klopp, the wait was worth it, not least because Keita allows his forwards more freedom within Liverpool’s system, freeing Sadio Mane in particular.
In their three games so far, Liverpool have created sufficient chances to win comfortably, while conceding only one opportunity statisticians Opta deem to be a “good chance”.
“We are very, very happy to have him here, finally,” said Klopp. “Quality. It’s all good. Naby comes from a similar football philosophy, and he’s very sharp in the challenges, very quick in these situations of counter-pressing, his impulses look kind of natural.
“I have contact with a lot of people in the Bundesliga, as you can imagine, and I have never had so many congratulations messages as I had after signing Naby! He’s the player of the league, that’s how it is.
“Last year (at RB Leipzig), he was the flier. He’s been doing this for two or three years, with different clubs in different leagues, but he’s still a young boy.”
Keita, 23, brings two players in one, which is why there is so much excitement that, when he settles at Anfield, he can provide the ingredient to allow Liverpool to win matches they either drew or lost last season.
The Reds were unbeaten at home, but drew seven games, too many at Anfield. And Keita’s former Leipzig coach Ralph Hasenhuttl believes he will make a massive difference.
“The lad’s just that good. Jurgen will be thankful for the reinforcement,” he said.
“If there’s one player I don’t have any fear can make it at every club in the world, then that’s Naby. Barcelona wanted him as a replacement for Iniesta, but Liverpool wanted him more.”
The Iniesta link is not fanciful. Keita (right) modelled his early style on the Barca legend, and was known before Leipzig games to watch Iniesta clips to motivate himself.
Frederic Arpinon, the scout who identified Keita for the German club says the comparison is not ridiculous.
“Straightaway, he reminded me of Iniesta. His technique was excellent, he was so good on the ball, he was strong and could pass it well,” he said.
“He can do the defensive work so well – when he lost the ball, he worked so hard to win it back. But he is creative too – he could do everything.”