Guinea manager Paul Put has delivered an important fitness update on Liverpool midfielder Naby Keita, even suggesting he could be fit for the Champions League final.
The 24-year-old went down with a groin injury in the first leg of the Reds’ Champions League semi-final with Barcelona earlier this month, and it was thought he’d be out for the season and potentially the African Cup of Nations.
Put has delivered an update: “He consulted his doctor in Switzerland as I said at the beginning,” he told Foot224. “He is in treatment with his doctor.
“He started the bike and there [in Liverpool] it is said that he will maybe in two weeks to resume with the group. It is even possible that he is in the group for the Champions League final if what I have been told is true. We will see.”
OPINION
It was a huge shame for Keita that he picked up his injury when he did, because he was just starting to hit top form. He scored against Porto, Southampton and Huddersfield Town in April and was finally starting to look like the player the Reds thought they were getting when he joined from RB Leipzig. So the timing was terrible, but it appears there might be some good news here after all. If it’s true that he could be back in time for the Champions League final, then that’s a huge boost for Jurgen Klopp’s team. It’s always good to have as many options as possible and Keita was starting to look like a very strong option. It would obviously be better to have him available than not, but it’s doubtful that he will make the squad for the final even if he is back fit again. Klopp is a level-headed character and he’ll probably view this as too much too soon for the Guinean, particularly if he’s going to go off and feature in the African Cup of Nations in the summer as well.
