It has been reported in Germany that Leipzig have set a £70million asking price for the Guinea international, but the BBC claim that he has a £48million release clause in his contract that can be triggered in the summer of 2018.
Liverpool fans are presumably desperately hoping the club can complete a deal for
Naby Keita, but they might not be too delighted to know that one of his footballing idols is none other than former
Chelsea midfielder Deco.
Keita has been at the centre of a tug-of-war between his current club RB Leipzig and Liverpool all summer, with the
Bunesliga club reportedly holding out for as much as £70 million for the 22-year-old.
Both
Liverpool and
Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk reportedly remain confident a deal can be concluded between the two clubs this summer.
Earlier in the window, the Reds issued an apology to Saints in regard to their pursuit of the centre-back and stated they had consequently ended their interest in the player. Southampton had reported Liverpool to the Premier League over a supposed illegal approach.
However, according to
Oliver Kay of
The Times, there is still a belief a deal can be done. The Anfield HQ Twitter account provided more details from Kay's report:
It remains to be seen if Jurgen Klopp and the Reds’ hierarchy will shell out anywhere near that amount of money for one player, but if Keita does end up heading to Merseyside, we’d strongly recommend he changes his Instagram username: