Keita vows to reach his potential at Liverpool – staying fit holds the key

Naby Keita has been relatively underwhelming in a Liverpool shirt to date, with niggling injury problems not allowing him to settle at his new club.

The Guinean arrived with a huge reputation in the summer of 2018 and made a promising start to the 2018/19 season.

A mixture of patchy form and fitness issues have held him back, however, and he is struggling to find a regular place in the side.

Keita is remaining positive, however, telling Sky Sports he will justify his price tag as long as he can stay fit:

The key thing is to avoid picking up injuries. Any player in our squad, when they’re at 100%, has a great chance to start the games.

It doesn’t affect me [his price-tag]. I always had the ambition to play for a big club and I’ve worked hard to get to where I am today.

It was difficult getting the injury but I’ve worked hard to get back and get to the condition I’m now in.

I’ll be continuing in that vain to avoid injuries and hopefully perform week in and week out for the team.

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Keita is a special footballer, but there has been understandable frustration from some fans over his performances.

There have been enough good displays, in fairness, but he hasn’t yet come remotely close to exploding into life.

Injuries have been a big reason for that, though, and he has impressed in his last two appearances, against Manchester United and Genk.

The 24-year-old is expected to start when Liverpool host Arsenal in the Carabao Cup fourth round on Wednesday night.