Liverpool have been given an added boost in acquiring Naby Keita in the current transfer window after a report from Bild has claimed that the Reds can complete the deal in the winter if they agree to pay an added fee in the range of £13.2m-£17.7m for the midfielder.

The Reds signed Keita last summer, putting an end to the transfer saga, after activating his £48m release clause in the summer. However, the deal was such, that the Guinea international would only join us next summer; i.e. in 2018. The midfielder will officially become a Liverpool player on July 1, 2018. However, if the Reds are to sign him early, the aforementioned source has quoted an added fee between £13.2m and £17.7m.

Earlier, Liverpool had no hurries in signing Keita in the winter but Coutinho’s recent £142m move to Barcelona might force us to make a move. According to the report, the Liverpool hierarchy are now keen to bring Naby Keita earlier than scheduled. However, as things stand for Leipzig, there are claims that they are keen on keeping hold of Keita until the end of the season. Back in November, their sporting director Ralf Rangnick confirmed the stance.

“Even if we should not reach the knockout stages of Champions League, it would make no sense to allow Naby to join Liverpool earlier. We want to qualify for Europe again and we need Naby for that,” he told Leipziger Volkszeitung.

However, according to the Bild, they have decided to change their stance only if Liverpool agree to pay an additional fee for the player. This additional amount has been mentioned as the fee “which will allow them to find a replacement for the midfielder.” Should the Reds agree to pay the quoted amount, Keita’s valuation will rise to somewhere between £68.2m and £72.7m.

It is important that we replace Coutinho but I feel that paying an additional amount to bring Keita to Liverpool this month would be a bad move. We can rather invest that extra bit of money and completely re-invest the Coutinho money on a proper replacement.

What’s your opinion?