- Liverpool will have to wait to sign Naby Keita from RB Leipzig
- The Bundesliga club don’t plan to let their star player go early
- The Reds already have a £55million transfer in place for the summer
- READ MORE: Bad news for Liverpool, Klopp fears double injury blow for Everton clash
Liverpool have been told they’ll have to wait to finalise the transfer of Naby Keita as RB Leipzig insist he won’t be leaving the club earlier than planned.
According to the Liverpool Echo, the Reds have a deal in place to officially bring Keita in in a £55million transfer deal on July 1st this year.
The 22-year-old is considered a huge talent after impressing in the Bundesliga in recent times, and the Echo claim there had been some talk that Liverpool could try to bring him in this January if possible.
However, RB Leipzig CEO Oliver Mintzlaff has responded by saying the plan remains the same – that he will not officially become a Liverpool player until July 1st.
‘Neither Naby nor his agent have made the request to leave the club in the winter,’ he told Bild, as translated by the Echo.
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‘There are contracts, and they say that he will be a Liverpool employee from July 1 onwards.’
Liverpool are in fine form at the moment but could always do with more quality in their ranks, so Jurgen Klopp may be disappointed to learn he still has to wait a little longer for Keita.
Still, the Merseyside giants have also arguably done well to have this signing wrapped up already as it would have been little surprise to see other top clubs come in for the Guinea international if they’d not been smart about their business.