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Who is Liverpool's record signing Naby Keita, what sort of player is he and what system does he suit?
Who is he?
It is extraordinary to think that Naby Keita - the man who has cost Liverpool a club record £63million - only became a professional four years ago. It was in 2012 that Keita decided to take his chance in Europe and go for trials in France, leaving the club where he had spent all his life, Horoya AC, whom he had joined as a nine-year-old.
After he impressed at a talent-spotting tournament in Marseille, Ligue 2 outift FC Istres moved quickly to take him on. Istres' then sporting director, Frederic Arpinion, now in charge at Metz, had been advised to look at a small African player by a friend and invited him to have a trial a the club. He was so blown away he allegedly halted the trial only minutes in so he could immediately get him inside to sign the contract.
"It was his technique," Arpinion told Sky Sports. "When he got on the ball, he reminded me of Andres Iniesta. After five minutes I said stop, stop, you are going to stay with us."
He was promoted to the first team after just a year and following his only professional season in France, where he was a consistent shining light in a side battling relegation, former Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier took him to Red Bull Salzburg, following the same path trodden by the likes of Sadio Mane.
Arpinion was with him in the stands at a game when he saw him for the first time and had already been impressed. "Gerard was sitting next to me in the stadium. He didn't know Naby, he had just heard he was a good player. During the game he turned to me and said: 'Naby is fantastic.'"
Back-to-back league titles followed and he left them as the League's Player of the Season, joining sister club RB Leipzig, where he has flourished as the hardworking creative force next to the more defensive-minded Diego Demme in their two-man midfield. His displays helped Leipzig finish second in the Bundesliga last season, securing a first season of European football.
What sort of player is he?
In short, the complete package. He may only be 5ft 6in, but Keita is deceptively strong on the ball, possessing fine balance and core strength, while his pace and bravery help him to win balls in the middle of the pitch or higher up. He is capable of driving runs from deep, or wide, positions with is excellent dribbling ability and has been compared to Deco in his style. He possesses excellent awareness and vision for the game, and a wide, varied passing range - from driven, lofted or chipped balls, to short, one-touch lay-offs.
He also leaves his mark on the scoresheet, typically shooting from range, arriving late in the box or dribbling into it. He has netted 28 times from midfield in his past three campaigns as well as registering 19 assists, and memorably scored his first goal in a 1-0 win against Borussia Dortmund on his Leipzig debut.
What system does he suit?
Keita has been trained in high-speed pressing football for a long time. Ralf Rangnick, while controversial in his native Germany, remains one of the country's most highly regarded football minds and before he took the reins at Leipzig was the sporting director and close friend of Keita. The player has said that Rangnick "treated me like a son" at Salzburg.
Here, Rangnick had already introduced and developed the style for which Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is so renowned. Klopp's former coaching adversary from his time as Mainz boss - who once even beat him to promotion to the Bundesliga - has taught Keita everything he needs to know and should slot seamlessly into the Anfield game plan.
As Klopp noted following the announcement of his arrival, "he fits our young team perfectly with his dynamism, outstanding technical and tactical abilities as well as a great character."