Noel Whelan has claimed that Naby Keita does not deserve a new contract at Liverpool and believes the Guinean has not “put in enough” at the Reds during his time at the club.
The No. 8 joined from RB Leipzig in 2018 for £52.75m and while he has shown glimpses of what he is capable of, he has yet to live up to his potential and is running out of time to do it.
The 27-year-old is without a contract at Anfield this summer and while there is a ‘serious possibility’ he will be allowed to leave for free at the end of the season, the former Leeds striker believes he has not. enough to justify a new deal anyway.
“To be honest, I don’t think he deserves a new contract,” Whelan told Football Insider (via TEAMtalk).
“I don’t think he’s put enough into club football, I don’t think he’s put enough minutes on the pitch to be worthy of a new contract.
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“He has been plagued by injuries since he arrived at the club. We have seen him sporadically throughout certain seasons and competitions but he never managed to establish a definitive role for Liverpool.
“In the back of people’s minds, he’s a player they’d love to have, but the question mark is whether they can keep him fit. He will demand big salaries and you don’t want to play him for half a season over three years.”
When you consider that Jurgen Klopp is desperate to sign a new midfielder and has made Jude Bellingham his main target, it is disconcerting to think that we may see a midfielder leave the club for free at the end of the season.
However, the Guinea international’s injury record is far from ideal and he has not been the player we thought we had signed four years ago.
However, at only 27 years old, he still has time to go and some would say he still has the potential to become an important player for us.
Many clubs across Europe will gloat over the idea of ​​signing Keita for free, so we’ll just have to wait and see.
#Ep64 from The Empire of the Kop podcast: Christian Falk on Jude Bellingham, transfers… and more!
