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Not sure Gerrard is endearing himself to the Rangers fans swanning about welcoming Liverpool signings in official Liverpool issue garments

 

Must have been done some time ago, no? It's our old kit, so I assumed that was just a picture that was taken a month or two ago and the media team just held onto it for the release.

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Must have been done some time ago, no? It's our old kit, so I assumed that was just a picture that was taken a month or two ago and the media team just held onto it for the release.

Guess so.

 

Which is a bit daft by the club really.

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I'm not won over. That is nowhere near a lean.Get your act together Keith. Not an impressive start.

You could make a case for him leaning on his chin and without holding his chin he is going to collapse to the floor.

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Seems to have gone slightly under the radar due to the unusual nature of the deal , but I get the feeling that Keita could be monumental in taking this team forward this season.

 

Had to turn down the use of a season ticket a couple of years ago due to work commitments & finances , but massively regretted it last season & suspect I will do even more so this season.

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https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/sport/the-inside-story-of-how-liverpool-signed-naby-keita-xbsrn6xst

 

 

PAUL JOYCE

 

The inside story of how Liverpool signed Naby Keïta

 

Liverpool’s first impressions of Naby Keïta proved underwhelming. A scout had been dispatched to Red Bull Salzburg’s Champions League qualifier against Malmo in late August 2014. The Guinea midfielder was earmarked to start as the Austrian side sought to protect a 2-1, first-leg advantage.

Keïta, 19 at the time, had joined the club that summer from French side Istres on the recommendation of former Liverpool manager Gérard Houllier and word quickly spread, after an instant impression on the training ground, that he would be one to follow.

Salzburg were gaining a reputation for nurturing young talent with the club preparing to offload another African starlet in Sadio Mané, who was joining Southampton for £11.8 million and therefore not involved in the game in Sweden. To a certain extent, neither was Keïta.

The youngster in the No 8 shirt was booked, then hooked at half-time with Salzburg losing 2-0 before Malmo claimed a third goal late on to seal their passage into the group stages of the competition.

Mads Jorgensen, a former double title winner with Brondby and whose older brother is the former Denmark international Martin, was the Liverpool scout entrusted with checking on Keïta. While few conclusions could be drawn from that initial spying mission, his is an occupation where knee-jerk decisions can prove costly.

It was Jorgensen who was tasked with continuing to detail Keïta and the dossier he built up on the player from Conakry had become filled with enough positives by mid-2015 for the club’s senior scouting team of Dave Fallows and Barry Hunter to become more heavily involved.

Keïta had been presented as an option for Liverpool to sign in the summer of 2016 at the end of Jürgen Klopp’s first season in charge, only for the barriers that made his subsequent pursuit long and drawn out to emerge.

He had a long contract at Salzburg and the plan within the Red Bull empire was for him to move onto RB Leipzig. Georginio Wijnaldum was recruited by Klopp instead for £35 million from Newcastle United.

Yet all those forensic scouting reports, the building of relations with Keïta’s agent, Arena 11, who also represent Mané, have proved crucial in finally landing a talent, who officially becomes a Liverpool player on Sunday.

Bayern Munich wanted Keïta, whose first season at Leipzig marked him out as one of Europe’s up and coming talents, but Liverpool were able to make a sustained sales pitch for the best part of a year, stressing how under Klopp they were building a young, exciting squad into which he would fit seamlessly.

It was here that Mané helped directly in selling the vision in a way Bayern could not. He was able to describe to his former team-mate and friend how the club had treated him, how they had kept promises following his own arrival from Southampton in 2016 and offer insight into Klopp’s methods and how he will extract more from him.

Keïta has played in a variety of positions for both Salzburg and Leipzig — tip of a midfield diamond, side of a diamond, No 6 and No 8 — and that flexibility appealed to Klopp. Depending on what formation the Liverpool manager selects this season, it is likely Keita will play in a number of central midfield roles.

Statistics published this week offer a flavour of what he will bring. In 58 Bundesliga games for Leipzig, he contributed 150 dribbles, created 79 chances, scored 14 goals, made 12 assists, 118 interceptions and won 146 tackles.

“He will join an already incredible squad,” said Leipzig coach Ralph Hasenhuttl. “But if there’s one player I don’t have any fear that he can make it at every club in the world, then that’s Naby.”

That he is finally arriving on Merseyside owes everything to perseverance, and innovation, in the transfer market as Liverpool’s sporting director Michael Edwards first entered serious discussions with Leipzig counterpart Ralph Rangnick 12 months ago.

The Bundesliga side, newly qualified for the Champions League after a stellar campaign from Keïta, made it clear that not even an offer of €100 million would break their resolve to keep him in the summer of 2017.

And yet Liverpool ultimately ended up striking a deal that has cost them £52.75 million during that same transfer window.

There were a number of factors that prompted Edwards to propose the agreement that would kick in 12 months later. Internally, Liverpool were pursuing Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and felt that after a period of adaptation he could play No 8, while the decision had been taken not to sell Philippe Coutinho despite Barcelona’s interest.

In the short-term Klopp was content with his options, but Liverpool recognised, too, that young, dynamic central midfielders were scarce and the thought of leaving it another season with no agreement in place could have opened up the market to the remainder of Europe’s elite, making negotiations potentially more complex.

As it was, Liverpool still tried to bring forward the deal.

Coutinho’s defection to the Nou Camp for up to £142 million in January prompted Edwards to make contact with RB Leipzig again only for two obstacles to rear.

Rangnick, as revealed by The Times, delivered a curve ball when asking for England international Trent Alexander-Arnold as part of the deal which Liverpool were never going to entertain.

Furthermore, Leipzig were seeking a €30 million premium on top of the agreed fee to release Keïta which did not make financial sense to Anfield’s power brokers. Keïta would only be available for the final chunk of the season, would require a bedding in period and had already played in the Champions League and so was cup-tied for the competition. They had waited four years, another four months would not represent too much hardship.

Liverpool do not report for the start of pre-season training until Monday, but Keïta has already taken part in early sessions at Melwood at his own request.

All those scouting missions, the building of relationships behind the scenes and the complex transfer negotiations already feel worth it.

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