Liverpool fans ‘would choose’ to ditch Naby Keita for £86m star – GiveMeSport

Liverpool fans are unlikely to want the club to choose to prioritise keeping Naby Keïta at Anfield over signing Jude Bellingham for Jürgen Klopp’s squad, according to journalist Dean Jones.

The Guinea midfielder is out-of-contract at the club this summer.

Liverpool contract news – Naby Keïta

Football Insider reported last month that Liverpool have “pulled the plug” on contract negotiations with Keïta and are now willing to let him leave the Anfield outfit.

The club didn’t want to lose the 46-time Guinea international for free, with the midfielder now able to agree to a pre-contract deal with clubs from abroad in January, or leave Merseyside for another Premier League club next summer for nothing, but have now changed their stance.

Jones has previously suggested to GiveMeSport that half of the sides currently in the Premier League would take Keïta at their club, alongside out-of-favour Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Nat Phillips.

The £52.75m signing has made 117 appearances for the Reds since arriving at the club in the summer of 2018, scoring 11 goals and providing seven assists in that time, according to Transfermarkt.

Meanwhile, Liverpool have reportedly made Borussia Dortmund and England midfielder Bellingham their top target for next summer according to Sky Germany (via Sky Sports) potentially paving way for Keïta to leave for free at the end of the season.

And Jones is insistent that there won’t be many fans of the Premier League outfit who would keep the former RB Leipzig man at the club over that of Bellingham.

What has Jones said about Liverpool’s situation with Keïta and Bellingham?

Jones told GiveMeSport: “I think there are not many Liverpool fans that would choose to keep Naby Keïta over signing Jude Bellingham. We’ll have to see whether he’s willing to make a move at this stage.”

What next for Liverpool?

It is perhaps understandable that Klopp would be more willing to let Keïta leave the club for free if the club are to secure the services of Bellingham next summer, with the £130k-per-week man making just one appearance for the club this season due to a hamstring problem.

Meanwhile, Bellingham, who is valued at £86m by Transfermarkt, has made a name for himself in Qatar at the World Cup in an England shirt, having played in every game of Southgate’s side’s run to the quarter-finals and scoring his first international goal along the way.

The 19-year-old’s performances at the tournament earned him a highly impressive WhoScored rating of 7.58, ranking him as the Three Lions’ second-best-performing player after Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka.

Therefore, Liverpool and the club’s supporters may find the proposition of attracting one of England and the world’s most exciting young talents to Anfield more enticing than that of extending Keïta’s stay at the club.

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