How Liverpool beat Barcelona in signing Naby Keita

London, November 23: RB Leipzig CEO Oliver Mintzlaff has revealed how Liverpool beat Barcelona to the signing of midfielder Naby Keita.

The Reds saw off competition from Barcelona to land the Guinean star in the summer with the player due to arrive at Anfield at the end of this season in a club record deal, reports Daily Mail.

The Premier League outfit pursued the 22-year-old all summer and eventually agreed to a deal worth £55m in the closing days of the transfer window.

Speaking to Sport Bild, Mintzlaff confirmed that Liverpool were not the only club attempting to sign the highly-rated youngster.

Asked whether Jurgen Klopp's determination to get his man had been key to the transfer, the Leipzig chief said: 'That's right, even more so because Barcelona were also interested in Naby Keita.
'This was confirmed to us by Barcelona, but obviously they didn't try as hard as Liverpool.'

Mintzlaff also admitted that Keita had pushed hard to make the move to Merseyside in the summer but the German club resisted as they were wary of setting a precedent.

'Keita wanted the transfer this summer,' he added. 'But (sporting director) Ralf Rangnick had told the team that we will not sell any players (at that time).

'This was not lip service - it was set in stone. Had we released Keita, other players might have come up with a similar idea.

'It (the Liverpool deal) gave the player more security, but also left us with a significantly higher transfer fee.'