Guinea and Liverpool central midfielder, Naby Keita has left his country’s training camp at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Egypt to fly to Liverpool for assessment by the Premier League club’s doctors.
Keita, 24 came into the tournament amid disagreements between the national football and the Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp over his fitness after suffering a serious groin injury.
Keita flew to England from Cairo on Sunday night after Guinea beat Burundi 2-0 to reach the knockout stages with the team spokesman telling journalists that he hoped the player will be back in Egypt on Wednesday.
“Yes, he has gone for medical consultation (at Liverpool); as you know he was the victim of a lot of heavy challenges in the game against Nigeria,” Mamadou Camara, the Guinea press officer, told journalists.
“Yes, he has gone for medical consultation (at Liverpool); as you know he was the victim of a lot of heavy challenges in the game against Nigeria,” Mamadou Camara, the Guinea press officer, told journalists.
The midfielder did not start Guinea’s opening Group B match, against Madagascar which ended 2-2, but did appear as a second-half substitute, coming on after 62 minutes although his presence was not much felt.
He started Guinea’s second game against Nigeria but played for only 70 minutes before being substituted and has not taken to the field since, He was forced to sit out of Sunday’s key victory over Burundi after he was subjected to bad tackled by the Nigerians.
“After so many heavy tackles the coach withdrew him before the end of the match, and the day after he was examined here and he tried to do some training but the medicine did not help relieve the pain,” said Camara.
“He picked this injury up in the semi-finals of the European Champions League and he has been training and playing but never at 100% and we have to think about after the Nations Cup.
“I don’t think he can play a full 90 minutes at the moment but if he can start and then be taken off that’s a very good thing.
“The manager will have to keep managing him as he has been doing.”
With four points from their three group games, Guinea has ensured their place in the last 16 of the tournament as the West Africans prepare to play the winners of Group D in the Egyptian capital on Friday.
👏🏻 | We need a Naby Keita in this type of form this season! pic.twitter.com/Fhdxv37UJS
— The Kopite (@TheKopiteOFF) June 28, 2019
The hosts, Egypt are already through to the knockout stages, after garnering nine points, five goals and conceding not a single goal. Others who have qualified to the last sixteen are Uganda, Madagascar, Nigeria, Algeria and Morocco.