No Kopping off for Keita

LIVERPOOL have pulled the plug on their pursuit of Naby Keita.

And now the Reds will save their firepower for next summer, when the Guinea international midfielder (above) will be allowed to walk away from RB Leipzig for £48million.

The Anfield club were prepared to smash through the £70m barrier in an attempt to prise the hugely talented young star away from Germany.

But in the face of fierce resistance from last season’s Bundesliga runner-up, boss Jurgen Klopp has accepted it is unlikely he will get his man – and no further improved offers will be made.

Only if Red Bull have a seismic change of heart and accept a previous offer that was thrown out will there be any change in the situation.

But Liverpool are resigned to waiting until next summer, when a clause in the African’s contract will allow him to walk away from Leipzig for a figure just less than half than the fee Liverpool have offered this summer.

Klopp still wants a midfielder, and he has monitored Schalke’s Germany international Leon Goretzka, who has only a year left on his contract and could yet be available at a cut-price fee, though Bayern Munich are thought to be strong contenders for his signature.