Naby Keita could be joining Liverpool in January and not next season if things don’t go well for RB Leipzig according to German football expert Lee Price. We had signed the Guinea midfielder for a fee stated to be £45 million after long drawn talks but we could see him playing in the Red of Liverpool if Leipzig don’t do well in the Champions League.
Price was the one who had claimed that Keita had agreed terms with us long before he had signed and had even stated that Sead Kolasinac would be joining Arsenal.
The German expert got both of the deals spot on and was quoted as saying that Tuesday’s Champions League clash against Besiktas is key to any Keita deal.
While speaking to Express sport, Price said:
“I revealed back in June that Keita had agreed terms with Liverpool – and there’s a chance he could move earlier.
“Firstly, don’t get carried away – at the minute it’s only a slim chance and there are no agreements in place, except the one for Keita to move next summer.
“But there’s always been talk that, depending on Leipzig’s domestic and Champions League progress, Liverpool could pay a further premium to get the midfielder early.
“If Leipzig lose on Tuesday, expect Liverpool to hold more talks to discuss whether a January deal could be done.
“A win, on the other hand, would severely hamper any chances of Keita moving early as Leipzig won’t want one of their star players going anywhere.”
More money to nab Naby?
We did pay a premium on Naby’s release clause to bring him to Liverpool, even though he would be joining next season. Looking at Price’s comments, there are a number of conditions for the deal to take place but we can push to bring the 22-year-old given our midfield problems.
Emre Can has still not signed a new deal to stay with us beyond next season. The German hasn’t been all that great this time around and with Philippe Coutinho’s drama set to continue in the upcoming windows also, we need to bring in Keita as quickly as possible.
The 22-year-old has started the Bundesliga season on fire with a goal and an assist from four games in the league.
He would provide our midfield with a lot of energy, something that seems to be missing this season and could be the player that can help us close out games rather than battle till the last minute, like we had to do against Leicester City.
