Serendipity is a wonderful thing. It is always extra satisfying to come across a shirt sponsor that holds a special, unintended relevance or connection to a club or player.
Over in Germany, RB Leipzig currently possess the perfect player to turn out for a Red Bull-backed football team in their non-stop, box-to-box dynamo, Naby Keita. If he was a beverage, he would be an energy drink – a sharp, fizzing hyperactive blur of a footballer who is wanted by clubs all around Europe.
Ready-made for Red Bull
Yet it’s no accident that the midfielder suits the brand values of last season’s runners-up in the Bundesliga. They have more in common with Newcastle than United or Liverpool in that respect. After years of sponsorship deals with extreme sports, Red Bull know what they want from their football teams, and the style of play that should be promoted to tie into their brand values.
In 2012 they appointed the former Schalke manager Ralf Rangnick as Sporting Director at Red Bull Salzburg, Leipzig’s sister club in Austria, to ensure their demands for high adrenaline football was translated into a philosophy set down from on high. Why is this relevant to Keita?
The Guinea international spent two seasons at Salzburg before being moved on to join the German side of the operation in 2016, enabling him to make a seamless transition playing for a side created to follow the same intensive, counter-pressing template set out by Rangnick.
An all-action all-rounder
He wasted no time in showing what he could do for the newly promoted side in their very first season in the Bundesliga, providing the drive to send them straight into the title race and the Champions League places in their first attempt.
On his league debut, he scored the winner against Borussia Dortmund to set the tone for a campaign that would see the newcomers supplant Thomas Tuchel’s side as the closest challengers to Bayern Munich in 2016/17.
Keita went on to complete more take-ons than any central midfielder across the continent’s top five leagues with 83. Dortmund winger Ousmane Dembele was the only player in the Bundesliga to boast more, with 103.
He was also joint second for successful through balls in the German top flight, completing seven – only two fewer than former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Nabil Bentaleb, who topped the ranking for that particular metric.
When he wasn’t trying to slip passes through to try and find runners, or charging at opponents himself to beat them with his speed and skill on the ball, Keita was getting to work to win possession and take control of games.
The 22-year-old won 2.05 tackles per 90 minutes in the Bundesliga and made 3.05 interceptions, putting in an average of 4.58 defensive actions and winning 7.52 duels per 90.
Box-to-box in every sense
A return of eight goals and seven assists in 31 games is impressive for such an industrious central midfielder, who does so much for his team in every phase of play. That tally effectively adds up to one goal scored or created every two games.
He is not only a focal point for Leipzig but the personification of their style of play, exploiting his athleticism and tenacity to turn every transition into an opportunity. While RB may be less obsessed with hoarding possession than many of their rivals, instead preferring to set themselves to hit teams hard on the break, Keita still managed to average 52.5 passes per 90 minutes last season, completing a steady 81% of his attempts.
Rather than spraying the ball about from deep, however, he likes to keep things in close quarters, with an average pass length of only 15 metres, playing it quick to bring moves forward up the pitch, giving and going, to build a crescendo of momentum to arrive in dangerous positions at full steam.
Everything an English side could want – at a price
It’s obvious to see why he has been earmarked as an ideal recruit for one of the clubs within the Premier League’s top six, and Leipzig have tried to stave off interest by slapping on a price designed to deter even his most determined suitors – but that may not stop them. England has already seen how effective a player in his mould can be.
Had it not been for his chronic injury problems, Mousa Dembele could have taken Tottenham Hotspur to a Premier League title, and Keita would also suit Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool down to the ground. Although he may only be five-foot-eight, a height disadvantage didn’t prevent N’Golo Kante from becoming one of the most dominant players in the division for Leicester City and Chelsea.
Not that he necessarily needs to leave Leipzig to win major honours. By finishing second last season, they have already clinched a place in the Champions League for 2017, and thanks to Red Bull’s backing have the budget to expand and enhance their squad in order to establish themselves as a permanent force at the top of the Bundesliga.
The player himself has admitted he had offers from England before his move to Germany last summer, and named Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City and Southampton as the clubs that made contact with him in 2016. He also cites City alongside Barcelona and Real Madrid as examples of the sort of “big teams” he one day aspires to play for.
Keita has the profile to be a Premier League player but only for the sort of money that Manchester United paid to bring Paul Pogba back to Old Trafford to set a new world record transfer fee in 2016. Is he worth that sort of sum?
Even if he didn’t have his links to Red Bull, he would still stand out as an exhilarating talent capable of giving wings to any side, especially one in need of some extra pep and propulsion in midfield. A match-winning machine capable of scoring goals, setting up chances, dominating games and bringing his opposite numbers to heel, don’t be surprised if a Premier League team take the gamble.
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