RB Leipzig concede Liverpool transfer target Naby Keita has had his head turned by summer speculation

The Reds have had two bids rejected for Keita already this summer and are readying a third and final bid including £40m to be paid up front

Naby Keita is one of Jurgen Klopp's top targets this summer (Getty )

RB Leipzig have admitted that Naby Keita has his head turned by interest from Liverpool.

Guinea international Keita is one of Jurgen Klopp's top targets this summer as he looks to build a squad capable of challenging both in the Premier League and in Europe.

The Reds have had two bids rejected for Keita already this summer and are readying a third and final bid including £40m to be paid up front, The Independent revealed last week.

The Germans have so far stood firm over 22-year-old and their other high-profile players and feel it has almost become a matter of principle to keep Keita, with the billionaire owner of Red Bull Dietrich Mateschitz even weighing into the matter, claiming money isn’t a temptation for the club.

But as speculation continues to rumble on sporting director Ralf Rangnick has conceded the player has had his head turned by all the talk surrounding his future.

“There should be someone who points them into the right direction,” he said. “The boys themselves are not the problem here. It is their surroundings.

“A whole village in Guinea or somebody from their entourage tells the players why they must do something right away. I can’t blame the players.”

With Leipzig unmoved Liverpool could be forced to wait until next summer to get a deal over the line when his £48m release clause becomes active, although at that price they will have a plethora of other clubs to compete with.

Liverpool had hoped an offer, with more than a 50 per cent mark-up on what they will almost certainly lose Keita for next summer, would be enough to make Leipzig sell, but so far the two clubs remain in a stand off with a little over a month of the window remaining.