Liverpool star is in danger of becoming the new Naby Keita

Liverpool slipped to back-to-back defeats in the Premier League for the first time under Arne Slot on Saturday when they lost 2-1 to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

A last-gasp finish from Willian Estevao secured all three points for the home side in a game that they deserved to win with their front-foot approach.

More and more questions will be asked of the club’s recruitment work during the summer transfer window, as Florian Wirtz came on at half-time and failed to turn the game in Liverpool’s failure.

The Germany international arrived at Anfield from Bayer Leverkusen in a £115m deal in the summer, but he is still searching for his first goal contribution in the Premier League.

Wirtz lost six of his eight duels and created one chance in 45 minutes against Chelsea, per Sofascore, which shows that he struggled off the ball and did not add much to the team in possession.

Given that he came in from the Bundesliga for a gigantic transfer fee, there may be some comparisons drawn to the signing of Naby Keita from RB Leipzig, but that may not be fair.

Why Florian Wirtz is not the next Naby Keita

The Reds paid £52.75m to sign the central midfielder, who officially joined the club in 2018, from Leipzig, and he failed to live up to his price tag.

In five seasons at Anfield, Keita produced just 11 goals and seven assists in 129 appearances in all competitions, per Transfermarkt, which shows that he did not provide consistent quality at the top end of the pitch.

He had scored 17 goals and provided 15 assists in 71 matches for Leipzig in Germany, which means that he was unable to translate his form from his previous club over to his time with Liverpool.

Whilst Wirtz has not had the goals and assists that he would have wanted by this point, the German star’s underlying numbers suggest that he is not on course to be the next Bundesliga flop, like Keita was.

The 22-year-old attacking midfielder is doing the right things at the top end of the pitch, but needs something to go his way to start racking up goals and assists on a regular basis.

As you can see in the table above, Wirtz ranks highly among his positional peers for input, with chances created, xA, and xG on target, but the output, goals and assists, is not quite there yet.

If he continues to take high-quality shots and create chances for his teammates on a regular basis, the goals and assists will follow and he will not be deemed to be the next Keita at Anfield.

This is why Wirtz, who assisted Hugo Ekitike on his debut in the Community Shield, is not going to be the next Keita, because he is on the right path to becoming a success at Anfield.

However, there is another summer signing for Liverpool from the Bundesliga who may be in danger of becoming the next version of the Guinea international after a rough start to life on Merseyside.

Liverpool splashed out £29.5m to sign Netherlands international Jeremie Frimpong from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer in an attempt to replace Trent Alexander-Arnold, who departed on a free transfer to sign for Real Madrid.

Unfortunately, the former Manchester City and Celtic full-back has had a difficult time of things since his return to English football, and is now in danger of becoming the new Keita.

Why Jeremie Frimpong may be the next Naby Keita

As aforementioned, the former Leipzig midfielder was a flop from the Bundesliga at Anfield as he failed to translate his attacking form in Germany over to the Premier League with the Reds.

Frimpong delivered 30 goals and 44 assists in 190 appearances in all competitions for Leverkusen during his time with the Bundesliga side, playing as a wing-back more often than not.

His output in the final third led the official Bundesliga YouTube channel to question whether or not the Dutch dynamo was the best attacking full-back in the world earlier this year.

Slot, however, does not play with traditional wing-backs, and Frimpong has found the transition back to playing as a regular right-back, which is the role he played for Celtic earlier in his career, a difficult one.

The 24-year-old star has found himself third in the pecking order at right-back at this moment in time, as he was an unused substitute in the defeat to Chelsea that saw Connor Bradley start the match and Dominik Szoboszlai end the game at right-back.

Frimpong, who was described as a “breathtaking” talent by U23 scout Antonio Mango, has only started one match in the Premier League so far this season, and has been an unused substitute on two occasions.

As you can see in the table above, the Dutchman has struggled on and off the ball in the top-flight so far this season, losing the majority of his physical duels whilst also failing to create a single chance for his teammates in three appearances.

The former Man City academy graduate was given an opportunity to start on the right wing against Galatasaray in the Champions League, but he ended the game with no goals, no assists, and seven out of nine duels lost, per Sofascore.

These statistics, in the Champions League and the Premier League, show that Frimpong has struggled with a new role and the increased physicality of English football, which is why he is in danger of becoming the next Keita.

Unless he is able to turn his form, in and out of possession, around in the weeks and months to come, the Dutchman may end up being the next Bundesliga flop at Anfield.