With N’Golo Kante and Idriss Gueye very much the new breed of central midfielder in the Premier League, even the slightest whiff of their own team signing a similar player sends fans in the Transfer Tavern into a state of frenzy, so Liverpool supporters have been overjoyed with speculation Naby Keita is a target for the Merseysiders.
The Guinea international has been tearing it up in the Bundesliga with RB Leipzig in their first campaign in the German top tier after his summer switch to them from fellow Red Bull-owned side, RB Salzburg, earning serious praise.
With an impressive four goals and seven assists in league action and 62 take-ons made to his name, Keita has been lauded, with comparisons drawn between him and the aforementioned Gueye and Kante thanks to their shared all-energy playing style.
Liverpool are reportedly tracking the 22-year-old as Jurgen Klopp draws up his summer transfer pans, but speaking to the Liverpool Echo’s Anfield Extra podcast, guest journalist Jorg Jakob, who edits Kicker magazine in Germany, poured cold water on the rumours:
“Keita as a player is really on fire. But I don’t see him in Liverpool.
“As far as I know, there is no real chance Keita wants to go to Liverpool and people in Leipzig don’t see him in Liverpool either.”
This doesn’t mean Liverpool are completely out of the race, but with RB Leipzig heavily backed in a financial sense and on course to qualify for the Champions League, it may be a big ask to lure him from the BuLi.
Is Naby Keita the perfect summer transfer target for Liverpool?
