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There was a huge amount of praise for Naby Keita's performance for Liverpool against West Ham on Sunday, but I wasn't surprised one bit.

Keita was attracting so much hype before plenty had even seen him play, but he showed exactly why. He is an all-round footballer and there is nothing the Liverpool midfielder can't do.

He slotted into midfield perfectly and he has settled really quickly, which again, hasn't taken me by surprise.

I think the other big-money midfielder Fabinho might take a little longer to adapt and Jurgen Klopp has suggested as much, but Keita gives you the impression that he can settle into most teams seamlessly and adapt to the manager's tactical approach.

He will be influential right the way through the team this season, I have no doubt about that.

(Image: David Davies/PA Wire)

He raised expectations simply by taking Steven Gerrard's No.8 jersey before a ball was kicked, but I don't think he will have lent a lot of thought to that. He just seems like someone who is perfectly comfortable playing his football.

He won't be worried about justifying the hype and meeting the expectations of other people, he just knows how he likes to play and he has done that well for a few years now.

He is full of confidence, he knows he can perform in the Premier League and the way Klopp wants his Liverpool team to play is perfectly suited to Naby Keita.

He's just a player who is very much at ease with his own talents.

(Image: John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

When you bring someone in as good as Keita - especially when you pay over £50million for him - more and more is always going to be wanted, but he does bring something different to the options Liverpool had last season.

He brings a set of skills that can potentially win you games and, yes, Klopp has other players who can play well and perform, but I think we might be looking back at the season and thinking 'what Keita did in that game won it for Liverpool' and I think that is his real strength.

On the whole, Liverpool's transfer business was excellent this summer.

The longer it went on, you wondered if they were going to sign a goalkeeper, but they got one in when they signed Alisson and he looks like he's going to be very good.

(Image: John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

The signing of Xherdan Shaqiri was an interesting one and to be honest, I was more of a fan of him when he played for Switzerland than Stoke but he is a player who will enjoy the way Klopp's Reds play.

Fabinho's time will come as a Liverpool player, too - he is being eased in and there is plenty of competition to get into that midfield.

The players who played last season, such as Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Gini Wijnaldum, did fantastically well to help Liverpool to the Champions League final, so Fabinho knows there will a battle to get into the team.

He is more than capable of performing in this Liverpool team and there is no pressure on the Brazilian to make an impression, just yet.

(Image: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

I think Keita had the hype and expectation, whereas Fabinho has come under to perform specific jobs in certain games and it might just be a horses for courses approach for Klopp this term.

Fabinho brings different things to Keita and Liverpool can wait for his talents, because as a defensive-minded player, the Reds won't need to call upon him as much.

There will be moments where Klopp's feels this is a 'Fabinho game' and he might not play as many minutes as Keita but he will certainly play his part and he will settle.

Liverpool are the real deal this season

Conventional wisdom says Liverpool will be the closest challengers to Manchester City's Premier League crown this season and I can't disagree.

It could not have gone any better for Liverpool and if there were any doubts that the Reds were going to be a serious challenger to Manchester City this season, then they showed that they definitely will be against West Ham.

If we look at what we know, the Reds finished fourth of course last time out, but they were arguably the second best team in the league in terms of attacking football and exciting performances.

There are teams around Liverpool who have issues of their own, such as Tottenham who have a problem with their stadium and Chelsea and Arsenal who are adapting to life with new managers.

(Image: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

It will be awfully close at the top and as impressive as Liverpool were at the weekend, City were just as good away to Arsenal, but that doesn't surprise anyone.

We know they are a great side - you don't get 100 Premier League points without being one - but the challenge is there for Liverpool and I think they are more than up for it.

Everything is just going so well at Anfield just now and everything seems to be going exactly to plan for Jurgen Klopp.

You think back to how he managed to get everyone fit, ready and happy after the World Cup while other teams had problems, it's gone how he planned and you have to give the manager credit for that.

It's a naturally fit and sharp squad to begin with, but Klopp and his team have them all ready and everything is looking extremely positive at the moment.