Liverpool agree record deal for Keita
LONDON: Liverpool have agreed to sign Guinean midfielder Naby Keita from Leipzig in a club-record deal next year, according to British media reports.
Several news outlets, including the BBC and the Times, said Liverpool have agreed to pay a £48mil (RM266mil) release clause to sign the 22-year-old.
They will reportedly pay an undisclosed premium as well.
Keita was reported to have undergone a medical at Liverpool’s Melwood training base on Monday. He will officially join the club on July 1, 2018.
Liverpool’s previous transfer record was the £35mil (RM194mil) they paid Newcastle to sign Andy Carroll in January 2011. An athletic box-to-box midfielder, Keita has been a longstanding target for Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp.
He began his career with Horoya in his home city of Conakry and spent a season at French second-tier side Istres before joining Salzburg in 2014.
Salzburg sold him to their German sister club Leipzig in June last year.
Klopp has signed Egyptian winger Mohamed Salah, Scottish leftback Andy Robertson and English striker Dominic Solanke during the current transfer window.
Liverpool’s 4-0 win over Arsenal on Sunday left them second in the English Premier League table, two points below Manchester United.