£42m transfer is the biggest sign yet that ‘strangest’ Liverpool player is staying long-term – RTK View

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One £42m is the biggest sign yet that Naby Keita is staying at Liverpool long-term. The Guinean’s contract expires next year.

There’s suddenly talk that Liverpool could sell Naby Keita this month. There are only a couple of weeks to go, of course, but the Reds are actually right up against the clock to make a major decision.

Keita, after all, is out of contract in 2023 and could leave for free at the end of the season – if he doesn’t sign a new contract. But the chances of that contract are up in the air.

Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg believes Monday’s meeting with Manchester United will play a key role in negotiations. Keita wants regular football and with Thiago out, he should get a start at Old Trafford. Failure to start would be a sign that he won’t get what he wants with Liverpool.

Jurgen Klopp, though, has always sounded confident that a deal will happen. We think there’s been a big sign that he’s right, too – Matheus Nunes joining Wolves.

Naby Keita is surely staying long-term

There have been reports all summer that Liverpool wanted Nunes. Correio da Manha wrote in late July, for instance, that the player was rejecting Wolves to wait for the Reds.

That didn’t happen, however, as he moved to the midlands for £42m this week. That stands out to us because Nunes was always a fantastic fit for Liverpool. The fact that they ruled themselves out of the race despite Keita’s contract still not being signed suggests they’re very confident that a deal gets done.

We don’t see another reason to lose out on Nunes and risk losing Keita for nothing, too. The Portugal midfielder would be the best possible replacement but he’s certainly not available this month. We can’t help but feel that Liverpool would have made their final decision on Keita around the time Nunes opted for Wolves.

And if Nunes went there, Keita is surely staying at Anfield. It suggests that Liverpool will back a player Jamie Carragher labelled the ‘strangest he’s ever seen’ with the contract he wants. After all, it certainly doesn’t seem that an alternative is on the way.