Xabi Alonso outlines what Naby Keita will bring to Liverpool

Xabi Alonso has outlined to Liverpoolfc.com what Naby Keita will bring to Liverpool.

The Guinea international has been unveiled as a Liverpool player and will wear the famous No 8 shirt which has not been worn since the days of Steven Gerrard.

He officially joins the club on July 1, but that didn’t stop him requesting an early training session at Melwood to help boost his fitness the other day.

Alonso remembers facing a ‘big personality’ when he came across him in the Bundesliga, and with that, he expects him to thrive under Jurgen Klopp.

“He’s a big personality. He has the hunger, the will to compete, and after in football terms he’s an all-round midfielder,” Alonso said.

“[He’s] Good with the ball, he runs and dribbles very quickly with the ball, but he also likes to make things tick in the midfield.

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“I think for this position in front of the holding midfielder, or even as a holding midfielder [or] close to the front three, he can have that role to find the space and to be up there. So [he’s a] good signing.

“He will have to adapt to the idea [of Klopp’s philosophy], but I don’t think that he will have many problems because he’s a great player and very complete.

“[Under] Jürgen you need to do [play like] ‘bang, bang, bang’ and if he gets it, he will do well.”

Alonso also touched on the fact that the No 8 shirt best suits the position he plays.

“[I see him as] An eight. I would say an eight,” Alonso said.

“Sometimes he can play as a six, but I could see him more as an eight behind the three strikers.”

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Source: anfieldhq.com