At his new club Werder Bremen, Naby Keita is facing yet another stint on the sidelines after suffering a new injury during his debut game.
Keita’s free transfer to Werder Bremen, which was meant to represent a fresh start, required the midfielder to accept a considerable wage cut from what he had been making at Liverpool.
In order to turn around his fortunes, the Guinean decided to move down, from competing at the top of the Premier League and Champions League to mid-table in the Bundesliga.
Keita missed the entirety of the preseason and the beginning of the season due to an adductor injury, but his fitness issues persisted.
The 28-year-old also tore a thigh muscle in his first start for the team, three games into his comeback, in Saturday’s 3-2 loss at Hoffenheim.
Just two minutes before his scheduled substitution, the problem occurred. According to BILD, Keita was “completely withdrawn” after the game because he was “visibly upset” as he exited the field.
Keita’s injury was diagnosed as “not a serious injury,” but Werder head of football Clemens Fritz added that “he will definitely miss at least both of our upcoming two matches.”
Fritz continued, “It’s obviously very disappointing for Naby as he had just recently returned to full fitness.”
The midfielder was gradually increasing his playing time after making a full recovery from the adductor injury he sustained during Werder’s first preseason match.
After brief appearances against FC Koln and SC Darmstadt, his first club start came against Hoffenheim.
In an interview with BILD conducted prior to this most recent injury, he expressed the hope that it would signal the end of a “difficult time.”
He said, “I intended to start right away, but then this injury happened.
Instead, Keita is still receiving treatment and will miss the next friendly between Guinea and Gabon as well as Werder’s matches against Dortmund and Union Berlin.
His absence is therefore anticipated to last at least a month, however given his unlucky injury history, it may last much longer.
