Naby Keita faces restarting his football career with Ferencvaros in Hungary after his free transfer from Liverpool to Werder Bremen went spectacularly wrong.

Keita, still only 29, left Anfield in the summer of 2023 after five years in the Premier League in search of regular football after injuries restricted him to 49 league starts.

But his downfall at Bremen has been spectacular. He was named as the Bundesliga’s biggest flop and has only played five matches in the German top flight. In April, he was suspended for the reason of the season and fined, accused of not turning up for the team bus for an away game.

He has made just one league start since and Bremen have chosen not to use him this season, either.

Coach Ole Herner said recently: ‘I believe that it's best for both sides to simply look ahead and into the future, to see what good solutions Naby can find for himself and what solutions we can find without him.’

Now it appears the two parties will split in January. BILD report that Keita will be sent on a loan move – unusually timed for 12 months given the transfer is being made in January – which will take him to within six months of the end of his Bremen contract.

Hungarian champions Ferencvaros are the named destination, where Keita could even come up against old rivals Manchester United in the Europa League this season.

In October, Keita told The Guardian: ‘In my last year at Liverpool, I didn’t play much and when I arrived here, I was motivated.

‘We’ll have to talk about the bus incident one day, but everyone who knows me knows that I’m a professional and that I’m not undisciplined. Despite everything, I apologised to the group even before the end of last season because we’re all human and nobody’s perfect.

‘Wherever I’ve been, from Salzburg to Leipzig to Liverpool, I’ve always tried to be exemplary.’

Keita was accused of refusing to board the team bus and instead returning home when he found out he wasn’t in the starting XI for a game against Bayer Leverkusen.

Keita was immediately suspended and forced to train with the U23s for his actions, as Bremen sporting director Clemens Fritz insisted the club would not tolerate his behaviour.

'We won't tolerate Naby's behaviour,' Fritz said in a statement at the time.

The player is said to have since apologised to his team-mates on WhatsApp.

Jurgen Klopp paid £52m to sign Keita from RB Leipzig after he had earned a reputation as one of the best midfielders in the German top flight.

However, despite winning a host of trophies at Liverpool his time on Merseyside was blighted by multiple injuries and he was limited to just eight Premier League appearances in his final season at the club.