Naby Keita settling into life at Anfield

by Graeme Jackson

Tuesday Nov 13, 2018. 15:15

Liverpool midfielder Naby Keita has revealed that he is still settling into life at Anfield, following his big-money move from German Bundesliga outfit RP Leipzig.

The 23-year-old was thrown straight into the starting line-up by head coach Jurgen Klopp at the start of the season, but despite a promising first few games, his progress at the club has stagnated over the past month.

Injury coupled with an intense competition for places has restricted Keita to 11 appearances across all competitions this season.

The Guinea international made a brief cameo off the bench in the Reds' 2-0 win over Fulham this past weekend with the appearance his only few minutes of competitive action in a month.

“I am really, really happy to play with my team-mates and I am learning from their experience,” said Keita as quoted by the Liverpool Echo.

“I'm training with them every day and I am trying to get them better, to learn from them.

“I watch them and of course the coach is always speaking to me, saying 'you can do this better, you need to do this'.

“He makes me feel like I want to do better and I want to progress so I feel lucky and happy to train with him and the players here.”

Keita continued: "I am following English courses and I am really, really motivated to speak English,” said the midfielder. “It is really important to me.

“I want to be able to speak to the coach and I want to be able to speak to the other players in the team so I am really working hard."

Keita will be in action for Guinea against the Ivory Coast in a 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier on Sunday. A draw in Conakry will be enough for the hosts to book their place at next year's showpiece in Cameroon.