Ex Liverpool man ‘visibly upset’ as struggling career suffers another devastating injury blow

Former Liverpool star Naby Keita is enduring a tough start to life at Bundesliga club Werder Bremen as the midfielder struggled to catch a break from injury woes.

There was hope on Merseyside that the Guinea international could become a mainstay in midfield following his transfer from RB Leipzig in 2018 but a long string of injuries plagued the star's time in the UK. Last season, Keita missed 28 Premier League fixtures due to injuries but did feature in all but two top-flight clashes when eligible.

With such persistent injury woes, Jurgen Klopp couldn't rely on the 28-year-old when rebuilding his Liverpool project this summer and Keita took the chance of a fresh start at Werder Bremen, completing a free transfer and reportedly taking a huge 75% pay cut for a clean slate.

Keita missed the start of the Bundesliga season as he nursed a tear in the abductor muscle but made his debut against FC Koln last month. He was finally fit enough to start against TSG Hoffenheim on Saturday but had to be hooked off shortly into the second half with another new injury.

BILD reported that the player was 'visibly upset' as he left the pitch with Werder head of football Clemens Fritz admitting Keita would miss another handful of matches, although it wasn't a 'serious injury'.

Keita had previously told BILD that he had endured a 'difficult time' on the treatment table having 'wanted to get started straight away' in the Bundesliga following his Anfield departure.

When Keita's departure from Liverpool was confirmed earlier this year, Klopp said: "Naby is an exceptional footballer, what a player he is. Maybe one or two injuries too many just hindered him from getting really through. But if you go through – and I would really recommend that – if you go through our really big games of Liverpool FC you might be surprised how often Naby was in the starting line-up and how often he played incredibly well.

“It was a bit of a shame when it was really going well then a little injury here, a little muscle thing there. That was not too cool and that is probably what people might remember as well, but in his moment he is world-class, without a shadow of a doubt. And I wish him the best of luck because he as well won absolutely everything here at Liverpool, which not a lot of people can say.”