Liverpool agree record deal to sign Keita for 2018 and Jovetic set to replace Mbappe
Guinea international Naby Keita will join Premier League club Liverpool next year after the English outfit agreed a reported club record deal of £48 million (Dh229m) with German side RB Leipzig.
Liverpool will also reportedly pay an undisclosed premium for the 22-yearold midfielder, who scored eight goals in 31 league appearances last term to help Leipzig finish runners-up in the Bundesliga. “Liverpool Football Club can confirm they have reached an agreement with RB Leipzig for the future transfer of Naby Keita,” yesterday’s Liverpool statement read.
“The Reds have agreed a deal with the German club and the midfielder that will see the 22 year old move to Anfield on July 1, 2018 following the conclusion of the current season.”
Keita, who will be a pivotal figure in Leipzig’s first Uefa Champions League campaign this term, said his present team remained his immediate priority but he was delighted to be joining such an historic club.
“Having my future resolved means I can now focus on helping RBL achieve great things this season,” Keita said. “Until I join my new club, next summer, I will remain an interested supporter from a distance.”
Liverpool’s previous transfer record
was the £35 million they paid Newcastle United to sign Andy Carroll in January 2011.
Monaco confirmed the signing of striker Stevan Jovetic yesterday on a four-year deal from Inter Milan.
The 27-year-old Montenegro captain is set to inherit the No 10 shirt worn by Kylian Mbappe, with the teen sensation’s mega money move to Paris Saint-Germain expected imminently.
Jovetic started out with Partizan Belgrade before joining Serie A side Fiorentina. He had a spell with Manchester City and was loaned out by Inter to Sevilla last season.
“He has developed in the big leagues and has experience at the highest level,” Monaco vice president Vadim Vasilyev said. “We’re convinced that he’ll find here the conditions to fully express his ability.”
While Chelsea wait on the return of midfielder Eden Hazard, the club have signed up his younger brother. Kylian, 22, will join the developmental squad from the Hungarian club Ujpest where he played 42 matches.
Austrian international central defender Kevin Wimmer signed for Stoke City from Tottenham Hotspur for £18m. Wimmer, 24, represents a good piece of business for Spurs having joined them in 2015 for £4.3m from German side Cologne. He joins Stoke on a five-year contract.
Wimmer had found cementing a regular first-team place impossible with Belgian duo Toby Alderweireid and Jan Vertonghen holding sway there. The arrival of Colombian Davinson Sanchez from Ajax earlier this month for a club record fee of £42m saw the eightcap Wimmer’s chances diminish further. “Kevin is an undoubted talent and he will significantly add to the quality of the group of players that I already have at my disposal,” Stoke manager Mark Hughes said.