New Liverpool signing Naby Keita set for iconic No. 8 jersey

Bengaluru, June 26: Liverpool's new signing Naby Keita's arrival at Merseyside had already brought up the excitement levels of their fans and now the levels might be reaching a peak soon enough after the revelation of his jersey number.

The Guinea international who arrived from RB Leipzig this Summer will reportedly don the famous number 8 jersey which was earlier worn by one of the greatest Liverpool players of the recent time, Steven Gerrard.

It's the same number he used to wear at Leipzig and reportedly the 23-year-old has been signing autographs for Liverpool fans and writing the No 8 next to his name.

Before Gerrard, the Liverpool No 8 shirt was also worn by Stan Collymore, Paul Stewart, Oyvind Leonhardsen and Emile Heskey in the Premier League era.

Gerrard wore number 28 when he first came into the team, then took the number 17 shirt and then moved to eight in 2004, taking over from Emile Heskey.

He wore the No 8 jersey for 11 seasons from 2004 and has seen the most success by winning the likes of the FA Cup, Champions League, Community Shield and League Cup and scoring the most number of goals as a Liverpool player in the Premier League era.

But since his departure in 2015, it has not been handed to any members. Even following, the current Rangers boss' exit many fans demanded that the club must retire the jersey to show utmost respect to their legend. However apparently knowing all the pressure, the midfielder now has chosen to don the same number which the club have apparently agreed to.

Keita landed at Merseyside first time just last week to join his team-mate and manager and is expected to report at training for the first time on July 2nd.

He is also supposed to play his first match in a Liverpool shirt in their opening friendly of the summer against Chester, a National League North outfit side on Saturday, July 7. He could be joined by another Summer arrival Fabinho in the game.

Liverpool reached an agreement with Leipzig for Keita last summer although the midfielder was allowed to remain with the Bundesliga outfit for one year.

However, following Coutinho's departure in January Klopp tried to land the player six months early, but ultimately the move failed.

The fee for Keita, however, was dependent on Leipzig's finishing position in Bundesliga. Liverpool could have been forced to shell out as much as £59 million if the club had finished in the top four. But luckily following Leipzig's finish at the sixth spot, it only cost Liverpool a cut deal of £52.75 million for the player.