Liverpool FC will not be receiving the services of Naby Keita, their club record signing, before the summer. Despite all the speculation running rampant about the RB Leipzig midfielder potentially moving to Anfield when the next window opens, both clubs have now confirmed it’s not going to happen.
The two clubs struck a £48 million deal this past summer to transfer the player over next summer, and that arrangement will hold.
Just a little over a month ago, Sporting director Ralf Rangnick maintained that Leipzig will hold firm on this.
And now, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has also confirmed that Naby Keita won’t be coming over early. So both clubs have now officially said that Keita stays put through the end of the season.
“There is an agreement with the club that he will come in June or July to Liverpool. There is nothing else to say about that,” said Klopp.
“We really don’t think about it because of all the things Leipzig have said. They said they do not have to sell any player. So why should they do something like that (allowing Keita to move in January instead of in the summer)? No, we don’t think about it.”
The 22-year-old sensation has five goals and one assist in 21 games for the Bundesliga side this season. You’ve got to see this incredible goal that he scored earlier this season (video at this link); it’s a great testament to his skill set.
Klopp claims that he has not kept in touch with Naby Keita during the season because “he is a player of Leipzig.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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