What Does Keita Signing Mean for Yaya?

Pursuing quality in the transfer window is never a poor strategy, but the recent addition of Sevilla’s Seydou Keita to the Barcelona midfield begs an obvious question- What about Yaya?

Yaya Toure joined FC Barcelona from AS Monaco in June 2007 for a transfer fee of approximately €9 million ($14 million), and provided a solid presence in the Barça midfield, showcasing himself as a player with box-to-box range on the pitch. With his quality at just 25 years of age, combined with his ideal physique for a defensive midfielder, it’s not an exaggeration to say that he will soon be among the world’s best defensive midfielders. As such, there’s little doubt that he would generate considerable interest on the open market.

Why explore this issue now? With the €14 million addition of Seydou Keita to the Barcelona midfield, Yaya Toure’s future role with the club has become somewhat unclear. With precious few exceptions, the disastrous finish to last season, particularly in attack (just 4 goals in 8 games in April and a humiliating 4-1 loss to Real Madrid on May 7) has called everyone’s contribution into question and created a heightened sense of urgency in the boardroom, and may result in Yaya finding himself as the odd man out.

With the reigns now in the hands of Nou Camp legend Pep Guardiola, there’s sure to be a focus on bolstering the attack and erasing the memories of last season’s disappointing performances. To that end, Keita could be beneficial to Barcelona, having averaged a goal in every 10.5 league games over the course of his career (24 in 251 appearances since 1999). However, a more accurate indication of his influence in attack, we should calculate the same figure since 2002, given the dramatic improvement in his goal scoring since that time. Since 2002, Keita has appeared in 187 league games (156 for Lens, 31 for Sevilla) and scored 23 goals, or one goal for every 8.1 league appearances, an impressive tally for a defensive midfielder. Using the same measure to examine Yaya Toure’s goal production reveals that he’s scored 15 times in his 174 career league games, or once every 11.6 appearances.

Is this much ado about nothing? Perhaps, but it’s important to remember that a bruised ego is sometimes the most damaging injury that a team can suffer. To be fair, there’s been no indication that Yaya is the least bit alienated by the signing of Keita, but the fact that both men will be competing for the same minutes on the pitch suggests that, sooner or later, someone will be dissatisfied with his role on the pitch.

However, until that happens, if it ever does, Barcelona will enjoy embarrassment of riches, with not one, but two world-class options at the defensive midfield position.

Barcelona Sign Sevilla's Keita

On Monday, the transfer of Seydou Keita from Sevilla to FC Barcelona was completed as he signed a 4-year contract (which is said to have a €90 million buy-out clause), with Barcelona believed to have paid Keita's buy-out clause of €14 million to Sevilla. Seydou Keita, cousin of Juventus’ Momo Sissoko, is Barça’s first signing for the 2008-09 season, and is expected to shore up the midfield.

Upon joining the club Keita said “For everybody, Barça is a great club, a team everyone wants to play for. I was lucky enough to come to Spain with Sevilla, which is also a great club, a club that gave me everything and helped me grow. Now I’m in Barcelona and I’m very happy but I’m very grateful to all the Sevilla directors and to the fans, who have always supported me. But in life you have to make choices. I’m sad to leave Sevilla, but at the same time I’m very happy to sign for Barcelona, because it’s an option that you can’t turn down even though you’ve had everything at Sevilla. The truth is I’m very happy to be here because it’s what I’ve always wanted”.

Keita began his professional career in France, spending three season with Olympique de Marseille and FC Lorient, before moving on to Lens for five season, where he ascended to the captaincy and truly broke out as a world-class player. Keita scored 19 goals in 156 games, peaking in 2006-2007, when he scored 11 goals in 37 games, and emerged as one of the premier players in France. In July 2007, Keita was sold to Sevilla, with whom he signed a four-year contract (is there a bigger joke in world football today than these “contracts”). In 31 league games for Sevilla, Keita played fantastically and managed to score four goals, adding another in a Champions League victory over Arsenal, putting him on the radar of several top European clubs.