28 Jun 2017 21:58:44
Things have got way out of hand with Keita in my opinion. An essentially attacking midfielder who only scores 8 goals and creates 8 ONCE is quite simply not worth a mega money transfer.

I have admittedly not seen him live so maybe he is better than his highlights (that would be a first though) but seriously? €70m on a player with 1 season in a top class league? Would anybody pay that for Forsberg? Or Werner? Because in my opinion they probably had better seasons than Keita. However the media haven't drummed up a storm around them so they are not world class?

You can't go around slinging that kind of money on players who have proven so little. That is money you spend on proven world class players. We will end up in serious debt if we start making mega money gambles. You take gambles at £10-20m. I apologise in advance for anybody who has watched Keita extensively and can genuinely say they see real potential. It really does seem like some people are just getting caught up in a hype band wagon though.

This is just my opinion though guys, I just cannot justify that figure on a guy nobody had heard of 12 months ago.

1.) 28 Jun 2017
28 Jun 2017 22:15:10
Mate do you really think it makes difference how much he will coast, or how much he has played in a top class league? at the end of the day it's what klopp thinks that matters.

2.) 28 Jun 2017
28 Jun 2017 22:15:27
Err, an essentially attacking midfielder? MK, not that I have seen much of him, but he starts in a DM or CM position. I believe he is often operating in the Henderson/ Wijnaldum mould for them. If he comes (and that's a huge, Godzilla-esque IF), he will be taking Wijnaldum's position I guess.
The numbers are pretty great considering that; I think he had some set pieces in him too, but most impressive is his ability of athleti dribbling, sort of similar to what Mane does upfield.

3.) 28 Jun 2017
28 Jun 2017 22:16:50
There's more to football than just scoring and assisting. Look at Kante, he's not exactly a goal machine or the assist king but he is probably the best midfielder in the league. Keita is similar to Kante just he can score and assist a fair few. In my opinion we should pay up to £60m for him (after looking at today's market) . It's a lot of money but £60m today is like £40m a couple of years back.
I encourage you to have a watch of him as every time I've seen him, I've been mightily impressed.

4.) 28 Jun 2017
28 Jun 2017 22:30:33
I understand your concerns about spending big money on someone you don't think is proven. Seriously though mate how can you debate someone you have never even watched? Or sorry watched his highlights.
Ever since Ronaldo went to Madrid for silly money and ridiculous buy out clauses where put in place the going rate for players was always going to go up that's just life.

5.) 28 Jun 2017
28 Jun 2017 23:07:57
DaRedMan you are absolutely right in my opinion.

6.) 29 Jun 2017
29 Jun 2017 07:18:37
Kante cost £30m only 12 months ago.
Keita is not twice the player.

7.) 29 Jun 2017
29 Jun 2017 07:43:55
Yes Ron and that's was the bargain of the decade!
Is keita twice the player of Andy Carroll? Yeah probably.

8.) 29 Jun 2017
29 Jun 2017 08:08:54
There is a problem with an inflationary spiral in the game, the question is, do we compete and bring in top players and have a seat at the top table m, or do we gamble at the lower end and hope for the best. Just remember, we settled for the gamble option when we brought in Diouf, Diao and Cheyrou instead of Anelka and Duff or when we went for Pennant and Crouch instead of Dani Alves and there are plenty of other examples I could mention. Tell yourselves that Keita isn't good enough when he turns out for a rival team against us and makes the difference for them winning. 8 goals and 8 assists for a central midfielder in their first season in a new league is good going, not withstanding his defensive contribution as he puts himself about a fair bit. There is no question that he is good enough, the question is, can anyone realistically come up with another player who offers what he does for less money?

9.) 29 Jun 2017
29 Jun 2017 09:48:09
Jacko, comparing NK to AC is a false equivalent that is illogical. MK is actually correct in his assessment and I have actually seen Keita play a few times for RBL. He is Kante but with better attacking (goals, assists and shooting ability) and passing ability. He is dynamic and would play the Wiji role if he came to us as IMO, that would be his best position next to Hendo/ Can in the B2B role.

Now, MK is correct that he is not worth his money being asked and RBL is only asking that amount cos they don't want to sell, which is normal. No one would be stupid enough to pay that money at this time which may explain why we are the only ones in for him. In fact, no one was going to pay the 50m we offered at first. People don't even ask why that is? Maybe cos he ain't worth it regardless of his immense talent. If Klopp wants to let himself get stripped naked by RBL then he should have at it BUT that does not mean that what many of us like MK and myself are saying, has no value.

10.) 30 Jun 2017
30 Jun 2017 14:07:50
MK

And how many Deep lying CM has scored more than him. Comparing his stats to Strikers and Wingers are ridiculous. He has had more impact in one season than all three of Hendo, Wiji and Can combined.

11.) 30 Jun 2017
30 Jun 2017 14:11:45
@Ron
Kante would cost £100mill this summer Fact! Price is generally very high this summer compared to last and it will continue to grow!

12.) 30 Jun 2017
30 Jun 2017 17:40:50
Comparing prices of one player to another is essentially pointless in this day and age. is pogba 100 times better than any player signed for 1 million no it's completely irrelevant though. There are way too many factors for each transfer. For a start wasn't kante due to a clause in the contract and him wanting to leave? Also how much would it take to buy him this summer would Chelsea even sell for 100 million pound?

I digress, back to keita he is a seriously big talent don't anybody doubt that. Also forsberg very inconsistent but top top dead balls. actually a little surprised keita only had 8 assists as his balls through a needle is spectacular.

As I said somewhere above I don't think it's a player we overly need but I don't think anyone could be dissapointed if he did come!