JURGEN KLOPP has ruled out selling Naby Keita this month – despite the midfielder having entered the final 12 months of his Liverpool contract.
Keita, 27, has drawn interest from former club RB Leipzig, with no Anfield extension believed to be close.
Speculation has grown that the Reds could look to cash in on the Guinean to avoid losing him for free in 2023.
But Klopp, 55, has ruled out letting him go this month.
Asked if he’d be content if Liverpool chiefs opted to sell Keita, the German said: “And not replace him?
“No, that’s not possible, of course not. But it’s not the plan.
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“We are not dumb that we think a player can go and we don’t replace him.
“No, there’s no chance. So, Naby will not go but if he would – what he will not do – there must be a replacement, of course.”
Further quizzed if he’s happy with his midfield options, Klopp continued: “Yes, when they are all fit, 100 per cent.
“But even then we always look to strengthen, we have to and we always did.
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“It must be the right player and if the right player is not available in this moment then we tend to say, ‘OK, then we deal with what we have before we sign a player who is not 100 per cent right.’
“This situation never changed. Now we have more injuries than we would have imagined and now it would be cool to have a new midfielder in, of course – but for now, and then we don’t know when the boys come back and the situation changes constantly.
“You can just not do that and then there is another fact: I am, we are, not in charge of what we can spend.
“That’s the situation and we get told things and then we deal with that. It was always the same and never different.
“You can say that’s why we are here in a good understanding or that’s why we are here in a bad understanding, but that’s why we are here and that’s it.”
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Keita has featured for just five minutes this season, coming on against Manchester City in the Community Shield.
He was an unused substitute for the 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace, and was not in Klopp’s matchday squad for the Reds’ other two matches.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
