Naby Keita’s productive first competitive start in Liverpool colours has seen his odds cut to win the coveted Premier League PFA Player of the Year gong.
The Guinean international, who arrived ahead of the new season from RB Leipzig in a £54M deal, that was agreed last summer, played 90 minutes in Anfield as Liverpool opened their campaign with a 4-0 defeat of West Ham.
The 23-year-old was pivotal to the impressive performance that allowed that win, roving into advanced positions from his central midfield birth and looked dangerous, not least when unlocking the Hammers defence for the home side’s opener, which was to be tapped in by Mo Salah.
A bright display was rewarded by a warm reaction from a coach in Jurgen Klopp who’d waited a year to see him line up in his team, and didn’t go unnoticed elsewhere, either.
Keita was available at 20-1 in a place to win the Premier League PFA Player of the Year at the end of his debut season in England but he was as short as 12-1 come this morning for the same prize.
The award, judged by the playing population of league by ballot, was awarded to his new teammate Mo Salah for his extraordinary first season on these shores last term.
Those who want to back the first man to wear the number 8 on his back for Liverpool since the departure of Steven Gerrard should do so with haste before he stamps his authority on the Reds’ season and his odds fall shorter.