RB Leipzig chief Ralf Rangnick has conceded Naby Keita has outgrown the club and the chances of them keeping the midfielder beyond this season are slim.
Liverpool had a £66m bid for the Bundesliga star rejected midway through July and have now conceded defeat in their pursuit of the midfielder as Leipzig look to keep all of their star players for at least one more season.
Keita has a £48m release clause in his current deal that will become active in 12 months and Leipzig have even turned down the chance to make more than that this summer in a bid to make a real crack of the Champions League this season.
However, Rangnick has conceded that Keita’s departure is only a matter of time and is not banking on the Guinea international being at the club beyond this season.
“Next season it is so that Naby theoretically has the option to go,” he told Bild. “I’m assuming that’s playing a strong season, even in the Champions League. And then there will be big clubs that are interested in him. Therefore, it will probably be difficult to keep him.
“We always said, if players develop faster than our club, then it will also be that a player leaves us. [But] It’s important that Naby is still playing this season.”
Naby Keita: Only Nabil Bentaleb (9) made more accurate through balls than Keita (7) in the Bundesliga last season pic.twitter.com/gP4FetR6c7
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) July 24, 2017
Liverpool will remain confident of landing Keita next summer but know that his release clause will leave them in a vulnerable position, with other teams also capable of affording the 22-year-old.
Of players that attempted at least 50 dribbles in the Bundesliga last season, only Thiago Alcantara (70.6%) had a better success rate than Keita (63.8%).
