I Am A Better Player Compared To Last Year - Barcelona's Seydou Keita

Of Barcelona's signings last summer, Seydou Keita was relatively unheralded as he joined from Sevilla, but in the last 12 months the 29-year-old believes that he is still improving as a player.

"I'm better now than I was last year, I'm more suited to the team's style of play," Keita explained to Sport.

"I always want to do more and continue learning but the truth is that if we compare my performances now to last year, I have improved."



Unfortunately for Keita, he will not be able to showcase his talents on the world's biggest stage after Mali drew with Benin in their World Cup qualifier this weekend.

Coupled with Ghana's win against Sudan, it has resulted in the Black Stars' qualification for the World Cup at the expense of the Eagles.

"Football has to be played on the pitch, we had to do more to qualify for the World Cup," the former Lens midfielder lamented.

"I would have liked to have qualified but it wasn't to be."