The 20-year-old left-back signed for Birmingham City despite reported interest from Newcastle United in January.
Birmingham City’s January signing Cheick Keita has told the club’s official website he is targeting promotion to the Premier League – maybe he should have moved to Newcastle United instead.
The 20-year-old enjoyed a standout debut in Birmingham colours, winning the Man of the Match award after setting up the winner for Lukas Jutciewicz against Fulham just a few weeks after completing his protracted switch from Serie B minnows Vitrus Entella.
And the flying left-back, who The Sun claimed as also being tracked by Newcastle United before completing a £1.5 million move to St Andrews, claims that he is dreaming of earning a place in the top flight under Gianfranco Zola.
“I’m really happy,” Keita told bcfc.com. “I’ve been waiting for this opportunity for some time. I had other offers before.
“My dream is and target is to help get Birmingham into the Premier League. I think we can do great things and it’s possible for us to go up if we work hard.”
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However, barring a remarkable turnaround under the Italian over the next year, Keita’s dream is likely to go unfulfilled in the Midlands.
As it stands, Birmingham are 12th in the table, 22 points adrift of league leaders Newcastle as Rafa Benitez aims to return The Magpies to the top tier at the first time of asking.
Therefore, it’s clear that Keita’s Premier League ambitions would have been rather more realistic had he made the move to St James’.
History suggests 19-year-old could fit in at Rafael Benitez’s Newcastle United
Furthermore, with a number of fans demanding a more ambitious, forward-thinking left-back in place of the dependable Paul Dummett, Keita would surely have earned the affections of the Tyneside terraces.
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