Liverpool paid £53m to bring Naby Keita to the Premier League but is he worth the money? Everton’s director of football Marcel Brands seems unsure.
Everton spent a number of months trying to lure Marcel Brands away from PSV Eindhoven before his long-awaited arrival at Goodison Park at the start of the summer.
And the renowned transfer expert has wasted no time in showing why he is so highly rated.
After a series of dreadful and overpriced signings in the first few years of Farhad Moshiri’s reign as majority shareholder, Brands has streamlined Everton’s approach to the market and pulled off some brilliant additions already from Andre Gomes to Richarlison, Kurt Zouma to Bernard.
Now, Brands might have enhanced his reputation even more among Everton fans by openly questioning one of Liverpool’s big summer signings.
The Reds paid around £53 million to bring Naby Keita to Anfield from RB Leipzig (Liverpool Echo) but he has endured a sluggish start, largely due to injuries. And, speaking to Voetbal, Brands has now asked whether Liverpool have got value for money with the dynamic Guinea international.
“Look at Keita at Liverpool. He cost more than fifty million euros from Leipzig but he’s just on the bench,” Brands said.
It seems a little unfair to question the 23-year-old former Salzburg star just yet, especially given that he has shown real signs of progress in recent weeks.
Keita looked like an unstoppable force of nature in the 3-1 away win at Burnley in early December and has impressed in wins against Bournemouth and Manchester United too.
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