Liverpool have agreed to pay pay £48million to sign Naby Keita and Premier League rivals Spurs have been linked with signing his Red Bull Salzburg successor.
It is easy to forget that Naby Keita’s career did not begin in Leipzig. Instead, it was at their Red Bull sister club Salzburg where Liverpool’s new £48 million midfielder made his name as an energetic and forceful talent with the potential to rise to the very top.
Keita spent two years in Salzburg between 2014 and 2016, winning the T-Mobile Bundesliga on two occasions and also being named Austria’s Player of the Season in his second campaign. Now, just two years later, he has become the most expensive midfielder in Liverpool’s history.
So Tottenham Hotspur will be hoping that they have discovered a talent just as remarkable in one Amadou Haidara.
Like Keita, Haidara is an African-born midfield powerhouse who has emerged as a real talent over in the Alps. But, unlike Keita, the 20-year-old could cut out the German middle man and head directly to England.
The Sun claimed that Tottenham sent scouts to watch Haidara in action as Salzburg stunned Borussia Dortmund in the Europa League round-of-16 earlier this month. And it is understood he is on their shortlist as Mauricio Pochettino aims to find a long-term replacement for the influential yet ageing Mousa Dembele.
Tottenham will be hoping that they have found their very own answer to Keita. And the early signs suggest that they might have done exactly that.
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