Naby Keita will move to Anfield in the summer. Liverpool agreed to a deal with RB Leipzig in August but had to wait for 12 months to get him on board. However, Journalist Ian McGarry thinks the transfer could go through earlier than planned, with Philippe Coutinho having joined Barcelona.

“Despite the protestations of RB Leipzig about Naby Keita not joining Liverpool before his agreed date of signing on July 1, I wouldn’t be surprised if that isn’t moved forward a few months with the sweetener of an extra few quid,” McGarry said on The Transfer Window podcast (h/t Daily Star).

“I think that might be the surprise package of this whole movement of players in and out of Liverpool.”

However, speculation suggesting that Keita’s move to Liverpool could be brought forward and completed this month during the current transfer window was flatly dismissed by Leipzig earlier this week.

“Neither Naby nor his agent have made the request to leave the club in the winter,” Oliver Mintzlaff, the club’s chief executive, told Bild (h/t Independent).

“There are contracts and they say that he will be a Liverpool employee from July 1 onwards.”

Jurgen Klopp has also rubbished the suggestion any deal for the Guinea international will go through early.

Klopp said: “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 (allow him move in January)? So no, we don’t think about it.”

Keita’s discipline has already been questioned this season when he received three red cards in the space of just 39 days – two while playing for Leipzig, one while on international duty with Guinea.

The highly-rated midfielder encountered off-the-field problems too, while his form has dipped this season, with him scoring 5 goals and 1 assist in all competitions this season, having scored 8 and assisted 8 for Leipzig last term.

With RB Leipzig chief and Klopp confirming that Keita won’t move to Liverpool earlier than expected, let’s forget this story once for all.