WOLVERHAMPTON, ENGLAND - Tuesday, January 17, 2023: Liverpool's Naby Keita during the FA Cup 3rd Round Replay match between Wolverhampton Wanderers FC and Liverpool FC at Molineux Stadium. Liverpool won 1-0. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

Naby Keita may have played his last game for Liverpool after new injury

With his contract ending in the summer, Naby Keita could have already played his last game for Liverpool having suffered another injury.

It has been the story of Keita’s career at Anfield, with injury robbing the midfielder of the chance to feature consistently in Jurgen Klopp‘s plans.

Instead, he has played just 48.5 percent of the Reds’ games since arriving at the club in the summer of 2018.

And his 45-minute outing at Crystal Palace in February could have proved to be his last Liverpool game, with the 28-year-old picking up an injury on international duty.

Keita was withdrawn at half-time in Guinea’s 3-2 victory over Ethiopia on Monday and while at first there did not appear to be any issue, he has not trained since returning to Liverpool.

Goal’s Neil Jones reports that a “full diagnosis on the issue” is expected on Friday, but he will “almost certainly” miss the trips to Man City and Chelsea over the next four days.

With only 12 games remaining in the campaign and Keita having featured in only one of the Reds’ last seven matches, there is no guarantee of any further minutes.

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Friday, December 30, 2022: Liverpool's Naby Keita during the FA Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Leicester City FC at Anfield. Liverpool won 2-1. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

Prior to this latest setback, Keita missed 20 games due to injury this season – the fifth-most in the squad.

Of his 13 appearances, only five have been part of the starting lineup, the last of which saw him pulled at half-time in the stalemate at Selhurst Park.

It would add insult to injury if this is how Keita’s time at Liverpool comes to a close, a player with plenty of unrealised potential at Anfield.

As for some good news, Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez trained normally on Thursday, as did Kostas Tsimikas after shaking off a back injury picked up with Greece.