18 December 2023 , 19:29
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Former Liverpool midfielder Naby Keita has failed to make a positive impression at Werder Bremen since joining in the summer, it has been claimed.
The Guinea international, 28, was plagued by injuries during his five-year spell at Anfield before leaving the Premier League giants as a free agent back in June. Keita made a big impression in the Bundesliga previously with RB Leipzig and was snapped up by Bremen shortly after his departure from Liverpool had officially been confirmed.
However, a fresh report has outlined that Keita's return to Germany has not gone to plan amid concerns from his new club over his attitude off the pitch.
That's according to German outlet DeichStube, who claim that Keita has 'yet to gain the trust' of the Bremen hierarchy due to his behaviour and punctuality. The report goes on to detail that Keita has shown up late to several team meetings and has also opted not to attend sponsorship events.
Despite recovering from injury issues, Keita has been left on the bench in recent weeks by head coach Ola Werner. Keita is due to participate in the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations tournament and will subsequently be absent for a period at the start of the New Year.
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Clemens Fritz, Werder Bremen's director of professional football, recently insisted that ensuring Keita's fitness is the reason behind his lack of action. He said: "For us in the last few weeks, the absolute priority was to get him fit and bring him to a good level. That was successful.
Join the debate! Were Liverpool right to let Keita go? Let us know here.
Naby Keita has hardly featured for Werder Bremen after leaving Liverpool in the summer (Stefan Matzke)He went on to add that Keita could feature in Bremen's derby clash against the midfielder's former club, Leipzig. Fritz said: "Naby is stable and certainly a candidate for action against Leipzig. But the coach will decide for how long."
Keita managed just 95 appearances across five seasons for Liverpool after arriving in the Premier League due to a number of injury setbacks. He has featured just three times for his new club after injuring his abductor in pre-season. He sustained a muscle injury shortly after returning from that issue in October.
Bremen have endured a difficult start to the Bundesliga campaign. They are currently 14th in the league standings, just five points above the relegation zone ahead of their fixture against Leipzig.