RB Leipzig Confirms Naby Keita's Liverpool Move Won't be Fast-Tracked to January
Much to Liverpool fans’ disappointment, it would seem that The Reds will not be able to fast-track their move for Anfield-bound Naby Keita to January, with RB Leipzig confirming on their Twitter page that the Guinea international will be staying at the club until the end of the season, as previously agreed.
In the aftermath of Philippe Coutinho’s record-breaking £142m move to Barcelona last week, Liverpool are eager to recruit reinforcements to accommodate the departure of their talisman, where there were strong rumours that the Merseysiders were in talks to bring Keita to Anfield before his imminent summer arrival.
Liverpool managed to secure Keita’s services in the summer for a then club-record fee of £66.4m, after having a number of bids rejected by Leipzig earlier in the transfer window.
The Bundesliga side only accepted the offer on the condition that the 22-year-old would stay at the club for the entirety of the 2017/18 campaign, where they were making their debut season in the Champions League.
However, due to Liverpool’s change in circumstance, they were very keen on bringing Keita to the club sooner than expected, where it was rumoured that Keita had played his final game for Leipzig in their 3-1 win over Schalke on Saturday- where he scored the opening goal.
Unfortunately for The Reds, it would seem that their hopes of bringing Keita to the club in January are all but over, with Leipzig taking to their official Twitter page to reveal their stance on the proposed move.
It wrote: OFFICIAL: Naby #Keita will remain an #RB Leipzig player until 30th June 2018. We wish to put the speculation about a January move to @LFC to bed.
In the same thread, the club published a statement made by manager Ralf Rangnick, which said: Ralf #Ragnick: “We won’t allow @LFC to sign him early, even though they have showed renewed interest to bring him in during this transfer window.
Liverpool will need to put the disappointment of not getting their man behind them as they prepare to face league-leaders Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday afternoon. A win could see The Reds leapfrog Chelsea into third place, but will they be the first to tarnish City’s unbeaten start to the season?
