REDS NAB £48M KEITA FOR LATER ... £60M LEMAR IS NEXT IN LINE
LIVERPOOL have finally landed Naby Keita in a clubrecord deal – but he won’t join until next summer.
And the Reds could break their transfer record again to sign the £60million-rated France midfielder Thomas Lemar from Monaco.
RB Leipzig finally agreed to sell Keita to Liverpool for an undisclosed premium on top of his £48million release-clause figure, which would
have kicked in next summer.
The Guinea star flew into England for his medical yesterday after playing for Leipzig on Sunday. The 22-year-old will officially join on July 1 2018 on a five-year deal.
Leipzig finally caved in to Liverpool once they accepted they could not hang on to Keita beyond this season. They rejected a £66m offer from the Reds this summer and faced losing the African for £48m next year when his release clause comes into effect.
The Bundesliga club accepted Liverpool’s compromise to deal now, giving them 12 months to find a replacement.
Liverpool are also pursuing Lemar, though Monaco are reluctant to sell the former Arsenal target after losing Kylian Mbappe to PSG.
But Kop fans will not be happy to learn that Philippe Coutinho (right) is set to play for Brazil against Ecuador on Thursday – despite being sidelined for a month with an apparent back injury.
Brazil team doctor Michael Simoni said: “The back problem was a matter of stress. Everything is solved now.”