Journalist Claims Liverpool Could 'Do a Naby Keita' by Completing Early Deal for Dortmund Star
Liverpool could yet repeat their tactics in signing of Naby Keita by securing the services of Borussia Dortmund winger Christian Pulisic a year early, according to a German football journalist.
The Reds agreed a deal to sign Guinean midfielder Keita from RB Leipzig in 2017, with the player then spending one more season with the Bundesliga side before linking up with his new club this summer.
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With 19-year-old winger Pulisic yet to extend his contract with Dortmund - which currently has two years left to run - German football expert Raphael Honigstein believes Liverpool could well 'do a Keita' and sign the winger with a view to him joining the club in the summer of 2019.
Speaking to ESPN (via This Is Anfield), Honigstein said: “If the situation doesn’t change as far as extending his contract is concerned, he will then definitely be sold in the summer of 2019.
“That puts things in an interesting context, because if you know that as a club now you wouldn’t necessarily have to force a deal through in the summer, you could say ‘what about next summer?’
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“I think Liverpool, who have been very smart in recent years, could do almost like a Keita. Say to him ‘you know what, next summer Dortmund have to sell you, why don’t you come to us then?’
“[They could] do a deal now. Of course, [approaching players] is not strictly legal, so it has to be very quiet, but it is being done all the time.
“I think that’s a very realistic scenario.”
Pulisic made his Dortmund debut as a 17-year-old in 2016 and has quickly established himself as one of the hottest prospects in world football, making his debut for the United States in the same year.
