Naby Keita to Liverpool - RB Leipzig to resist attempts to bring transfer forward to JanuaryBundesliga club remain keen to keep midfield ace until summer - even if Reds make fresh offer
Keita is due to move to Merseyside in the summer, and would be open to the idea of doing so in January if possible.Liverpool agreed a £55m deal for Keita last summer, and would be prepared to pay an extra premium in order to accelerate his transfer.
Leipzig, though, remain adamant that their star man will be staying put until the end of the season and Liverpool fear their stance will not change between now and the end of the current transfer window. The clubs negotiated amicably in the summer, and the Reds are eager to continue that relationship.
With more than £100m arriving immediately from the Coutinho deal, however, Liverpool are in a financial position to tempt Leipzig into doing business and will explore the possibility of doing so.
Oliver Mintzlaff, the Bundesliga club's CEO, spoke on the issue last week.
"Neither Naby nor his agent have made the request to leave the club in the winter," he told Bild.
"There are contracts, and they say that he will be a Liverpool employee from July 1 onwards."Leipzig were eliminated from the Champions League in the group stage, but are handily placed to qualify for next season's competition.
They sit fifth in the Bundesliga at the half-way stage, just two points off second place. Keita, 22, has made 20 appearances this term, scoring five goals.
Discussing the possibility of a January deal for Keita back in December , Jurgen Klopp was downbeat.
He said: "How do we deal with this? I thought we don’t speak about transfers.
"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. 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. Why should they do something like that (letting him leave in January)? So no, we don’t think about it."
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