With a break in the season for International matches Liverpool are not in action this weekend and don't return until March 31st. While there is still plenty to play for this season with Liverpool well involved in the battle for a top 4 place and an upcoming tie against Manchester City in the Champions League I have been finding myself in the downtime to think ahead into the future.
A big reason as to why I have been thinking ahead is down to watching RB Leipzig V Bayern Munich last week. I have been keeping a close eye on Leipzig all season but rarely get the opportunity to watch a full game and only catch a couple of minutes of highlights. The special attention on Leipzig is down to looking at their midfielder Naby Keita who in July will become a Liverpool player. It was a perfect game of his to catch as the 23 year old Guinean put in a decent performance, grabbing an equalizing goal and then playing in Werner who scored the winner.
Source Naby after scoring a goal
This season in all competitions Keita has scored 9 and created 5 goals for his team, but as well as contributing towards goals Keita has a host of other qualities that has gotten me and many other Liverpool fans really excited about finally getting him at Anfield.
Keita has bags of energy and will add even more pace to a Liverpool side who already has plenty of speed, he seems to be able to read the game extremely well and I often notice how regularly he seems to be able to pick up loose balls. It's not down to luck and with Liverpool's highly aggressive pressing it's a trend we can expect to continue when he comes to the Premier League.
Whether through a tackle, interception or just being the first to react and pick up a loose ball another thing about Keita which makes me excited to see him in Liverpool's midfield is the multitude of options he has when he gets on the ball. He has the quality to do pretty much everything. He can play killer through balls, intricate one touch passing where he gives it to a team mate then makes a run into space to receive the ball and he can also strike a ball quite cleanly and isn't afraid to have a shot at goal from distance if it's presented to him.
The only knocks you ever seem to hear anyone say about Keita is regarding his discipline, after he was announced as a Liverpool player he picked up a couple of red cards and was even booked in the game against Munich but looking at his yellow card and red card statistics they don't stand out as being something anyone should be concerned with. He does tend to commit a lot of fouls and in the Europa League I do remember seeing him stand on an opposition players foot as they were on the floor, maybe that is something Klopp will look to work on as Liverpool are not a dirty team. However if you look at some of the most successful teams in history they all contain at least one player who liked mixing it up so maybe adding someone like Keita with a bit of bite may not be the worst thing.
Source Naby after getting a red card
As one player is set to arrive it seems like another is set to leave Liverpool, Emre Can has yet to sign an extension on his contract and while there is still slight hope of him signing it before the end of the season all the signs seem to be suggesting that he will be leaving when it expires. Some Liverpool fans don't seem to mind if Can leaves, feeling that in Keita Liverpool have an even better replacement ready to move in.
However I for one will be sad to see him leave and feel it will be a significant loss, Can I feel is the perfect player to sit behind Keita in the defensive midfield role allowing him to get forward as often as he can. I believe the two could combine and form a partnership that would be successful for many years to come. Can has recently had a slight back injury but before that proved to be one of Liverpool's most reliable players, espescially over the hectic winter period where he played more minutes than anybody else.
Source Can Liverpool convince him to stay?
Whatever Can decides on his future I am still extremely excited about the following season for Liverpool. Since the blip at the turn of the year Liverpool have shown an amazing step up in their performance and besides the loss to Man United have looked a far more solid team defensively while being one of the most feared attacking teams in Europe. I am hoping over the 2 legs with Man City that Liverpool show they are not as far behind them as the league table may suggest and the introduction of Keita will only improve them.
Going into next season almost all of Liverpool's key players will be aged around 25-27 and should be hitting their peaks, I do believe for the first time in a long time this is a Liverpool team who may be able to seriously compete for the league title.
Before all that though as I said at the beginning, there is still plenty to play for this season. Liverpool will be back on 31st March as they travel to Crystal Palace, they will be hoping for a big performance as that will be just a few days before they host City in the first leg of that crucial Champions League encounter.