Liverpool may have to repeat Naby Keita transfer tactic because of Man Utd (Image: GETTY)
Liverpool and Manchester United may be sitting at different points in the Premier League table - but that reportedly won’t stop Jurgen Klopp and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer battling for the same player.
RB Leipzig forward Timo Werner is that player. He’s been tearing up the Bundesliga this season and blitzed a hat-trick as his side battered Mainz 8-0 this weekend.
Liverpool want him. Jurgen Klopp has kept tabs on the striker’s career and is eyeing him to add another dimension to his already formidable Reds attack.
Manchester United do too, however. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would like to sign a striker following the departure of Romelu Lukaku and the German has been earmarked as a target.
The problem for Liverpool is, though, that United’s need is greater.
Klopp would prefer to sign Werner at the end of the season. He’s happy with Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane starring at the forefront of his attack, with Divock Origi a brilliant deputy.
But United need goals and they need them quick.
It is the Red Devils who are more prepared to buy Werner at the first opportunity.
They believe, too, that they can lure him to Old Trafford with the promise of regular football. At Liverpool, given their stunning attack, he has no such guarantee.
But the Reds could find a way of beating United to Werner by repeating what they did with Naby Keita.
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Keita is in his second full season at Liverpool and they’re hoping he can come good. So far, injury and inconsistency has blighted his Anfield career.
Liverpool pushed the boat out to sign him.
In January 2018, the player was starring at Leipzig and turning the heads of Europe’s elite.
Determined to get him in while he was still strutting his stuff in the Bundesliga, Liverpool decided to take action.
The Reds agreed to sign the 24-year-old at the end of the 2017/2018 season but a fee was ironed out in January that year.
That meant Keita could spend the rest of the season at Leipzig before touching down on Merseyside in the summer.