Naby Keita withdraws from Guinea squad due to knee injury

Liverpool's Naby Keita has picked up an injury whilst on international duty with Guinea.

Keita played 64 minutes against Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup quarter-final before he headed off to international duty with Guinea.

However, the Liverpool midfielder was not in the Guinea squad against South Africa in their first scheduled friendly game as he withdrew due to a knee injury that he picked up during the Forest game, according to The Athletic, as cited by Anfield Watch's Twitter account.

The report does state that the injury only seems to be a minor one which is good news for Jurgen Klopp's side.

Guinea's second friendly game of the international break against Zambia has actually been cancelled so Keita would've been on his way back to Liverpool anyway.

Anfield Watch Verdict

It would be a shame if Naby picked up an injury this late into the season as he's been available for a large majority of the campaign, something we haven't seen since he joined.

Also, with the number of games that the Reds have during April, Keita will definitely be getting a lot of game time.

Earlier this year, Klopp praised the 27-year-old by saying he's one of the best midfielders he's ever seen, as cited by EOTK.

"Naby, I would say, is one of the best midfielders I ever saw," said Klopp.

Unfortunately, during his Liverpool career, we are yet to see the Guinea captain string a run of games together to prove Klopp's point.

Whenever he does get on a good run, he usually picks up a small niggle that will keep him out for a few weeks - then he struggles to get back into the starting 11.

Hopefully, this injury isn't a massive issue and we can see Naby in the team for the remainder of the season.