Naby Keita has been voted as the worst player in the Bundesliga – by the Bundesliga players themselves.
The former Liverpool midfielder – who was part of the Reds squads which won the Champions League and Premier League under Jurgen Klopp – ended his five-year Reds career last summer following the expiration of his contract.
Having previously played in Germany for RB Leipzig, Keita returned to the Bundesliga with Werder Bremen, but it is safe to say that the switch didn’t work out.
Keita was forced to wait until late September to make his debut due to injury, and due to more injury issues and his involvement in the Africa Cup of Nations, the Guinea midfielder had only played six times for his club by April, when Werder suspended him until the end of the season after refusing to travel with the team for a game at Bayer Leverkusen.
“We won’t tolerate Naby’s behaviour,” said football director Clemens Fritz. “He let his team down in a time of difficulty surrounding our recent run of form and squad availability and put his own interests above those of the team.”
Keita denied the accusations that he refused to play, but the episode seemingly caught the attention of his fellow Bundesliga players.
In an end of season survey for the German football magazine Kicker, some 227 players from the Bundesliga were asked for their views on various topics, with Keita being chosen as the worst player with a vote of 25.6 per cent.
Elsewhere in the survey there was better news for another former Liverpool midfielder in Xabi Alonso, with the ex-Spain star being voted as the league’s best manager by 60.4 per cent of the players.
Alonso oversaw Bayer Leverkusen’s first ever Bundesliga title win, doing so unbeaten, while he also picked up the German Cup and got to the final of the Europa League. Leverkusen star Florian Wirtz was voted as the best player with 51.1 per cent.
Players were also asked who they think will win Euro 2024, which is taking place in Germany, with 39.2 per cent picking Julian Nagelsmann’s hosts followed by France on 22 per cent and England on 15.4 per cent.
