Inside ex-Liverpool midfielder’s frustrating start to life at Werder Bremen

Former Liverpool midfielder Naby Keita is causing quite the stir at his new club Werder Bremen following his move this summer.

The 28-year-old joined on a free transfer this summer after the club allowed him to run down his current deal.

He was one of several who left on a free transfer, including James Milner (Brighton) Roberto Firmino (Al-Ahli) and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Besiktas) in what was a busy summer of outgoings at Anfield.

Keita played just 13 times in his final season at the club, with a hamstring injury keeping him out of the start of the season whilst an ‘unknown injury’ kept him out of action from the start of March until the end of the season.

And now he’s struggling to settle back into life in Germany, as reports from German media outlet BILD have claimed that they are frustrated with their new signing’s impact so far.

Due to an injury suffered during a warm-up in pre-season, he was forced to withdraw from his planned Werder Bremen debut against Oldenburg in July after sustaining an adductor problem.

He hasn’t featured since and it’s been a disappointing start to say the least for the former Premier League winner.

Since joining Liverpool in a deal worth £52.75m in 2018, Keita went onto have an awful time with injuries, missing 122 games in total with a variety of different ailments.

Those regular intervals saw him struggle to ever nail down a regular spot in the side, which saw him fail to replicate any of the form that saw him earn a big-money move from RB Leipzig in the first place.

There were standout moments in a Red shirt that included stunning strikes against Chelsea, Atletico Madrid and Crystal Palace but an average of just 26 apperances a season, in a Liverpool side that were consistently reaching the latter stages of competitions during his time at the club, was certainly a poor return.

Of course, this was one of the main focuses when signing central midfielders this summer; the likes of Dominik Szboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister and Wataru Endo all possess strong injury records, which puts them in good stead for a long and successful career at the club.

For Bremen, they’ll be hoping that their new signing can turn it around after a difficult start, or there may be a difficult conversation to have during one of the next two transfer windows.