After witnessing promising cameo against Manchester United on Sunday, Jurgen Klopp is preparing to unleash Naby Keita on KRC Genk tomorrow evening.
Since completing a move from RB Leipzig last summer, a combination of niggling injuries and poor form have seen the Liverpool midfielder fail to live up to the lofty expectations placed upon him by a £52million price tag.
A recurrence of the adductor injury that ended his first season with the Reds has accounted for a slow start to his second campaign, but Keita is fit again going into a crucial period for Klopp’s side.
The weekend draw at Old Trafford offered a small insight into the Guinean’s potential, his second-half cameo seeing him heavily involved in the creation of Adam Lallana’s equaliser.
And Klopp is ready to give Keita a chance to build on that outing with a Champions League start at the Luminus Arena on Wednesday evening.
Asked when fans might expect to see the 24-year-old’s best form, the manager replied: “Soon.
“I don’t know when he will start but Naby is one-and-a-half or two weeks in full training roundabout. And he looks good in training, really good.
“They all look good in training, that’s why we made the changes that we made [at Old Trafford] because we really knew they can have an impact in that game. I was really happy.
“That was the best news of the whole day - not the result, not the goal we scored, which was nice - but that these three guys, very important players for us, in a moment when it’s not easy to have rhythm or get rhythm when you don’t play that much, can perform like this in a game.
“In training I see it a lot, so that was the best news. It will not be long anymore.”
