For one former Liverpool player in particular, the 2023/24 season will go down as a year to forget.
Naby Keita was among several departures from the club last summer as he departed Anfield at the end of his contract, with Werder Bremen picking him up on a free transfer.
However, in a damning indictment of the 29-year-old’s ailing fortunes over the past 12 months, a survey of 227 Bundesliga footballers by German magazine Kicker saw him labelled the most disappointing player in the league by his peers, with just over a quarter of respondents giving him that dubious ‘honour’.
READ MORE: Liverpool expect summer sale of 6 ft 3 powerhouse who Jurgen Klopp dubbed ‘immense’
READ MORE: Liverpool braced for summer offers for £85k-p/w titan who Neville dubbed ‘outstanding’
It’s been quite a demise from Keita since Liverpool’s Premier League-winning season of 2019/20, during which Virgil van Dijk labelled him ‘world-class‘.
Persistent injury problems prevented the Reds’ one-time record signing from consistently being able to showcase the full extent of his ability at Anfield, and in the end he became too unreliable to justify keeping on beyond the expiry of his contract 12 months ago.
FOLLOW Empire of the Kop on Instagram (@empireofthekop) HERE
Hindsight is 20/20 vision, of course, but those tasked with making the big decisions at Liverpool this time last year will feel more than vindicated in letting the Guinea midfielder leave on a free transfer when looking at how he’s fared in Bremen since then.
Injuries limited Keita to a mere five appearances totalling 106 minutes all season (Transfermarkt), and he was even accused by Werder sporting director Clemens Fritz of refusing to travel to one fixture against Bayer Leverkusen, an allegation that the ex-Liverpool man angrily denied afterwards.
It’s a shame to see a player of the 29-year-old’s ability suffer such an ignominous downturn in fortunes, and we hope that he can turn things around swiftly, whether that’s with his current club or elsewhere if he’s burned too many bridges at the Weserstadion.