Liverpool target Naby Keita wants to leave RB Leipzig but Bundesliga club will hold firm on £70m asking price
The Guinean midfielder believes he can become one of the Premier League's best
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Your support makes all the difference.Naby Keita wants to join Liverpool, but the Premier League side may be priced out of a move for one of Jurgen Klopp's top targets.
The Guinean international had a stand-out debut season in the Bundesliga after signing for RB Leipzig last summer, but is already keen to move amid interest from the Merseyside club.
His dream move to Anfield, however, is being obstructed by Leipzig's demands of a £70m fee.
22-year-old Keita is seen by Klopp as the all-action midfielder his team needs, combining power, energy and passing ability. But having qualified for the Champions League for the first time in their history and keen to mount a title challenge this year, the Bundesliga upstarts are in no mood to sell - even if the Reds' proposed £45m deal would represent a huge profit on a player who first entered the Red Bull ecosystem three years ago for just £1.5m.
Keita was plucked from the French lower leagues - Istres, to be exact - by RB Salzburg in 2014, where he played for two years before graduating to the Austrian club's bigger brother in Germany. Their investment has already paid itself off many times over but what the Bundesliga runners-up are holding out for is Keita's market value.
Even with the immense wealth of the Premier League, £70m feels like an excessive valuation but Liverpool would be buying potential - with Keita just 22 - and a player who has been personally requested by Jurgen Klopp. That seal of approval is driving Keita to turn down all offers of a new contract and attempt to seal a move to Anfield. Leipzig, however, know that Liverpool have plenty to spend this summer and need to secure their top targets if they are to keep Klopp happy.
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