Serie A giants Inter Milan are not keen on signing Naby Keita with the Liverpool midfielder edging closer to a summer departure from the Premier League outfit.
Five years ago, before joining Liverpool for an eye-watering fee of £52 million, Keita was up there with the most coveted central midfielders in European football.
Flash forward to the summer of 2023 and his worrying injury record, plus a prohibitive pay-packet, means the Guinea international is unlikely to receive quite so many phone calls when his Liverpool contract expires in three months’ time. Few players have seen their reputation plummet quite so quickly, or quite so substantially, over the last half-decade.
According to FC Inter News, the Nerazzuri were ‘offered’ the chance to bring Keita to the San Siro as a replacement for the similarly out-of-contract Roberto Gagliardini. Inter’s response, however, was not exactly an enthusiastic one.
Naby Keita is leaving Liverpool this summer
The report believes that Keita’s £120,000-a-week wages is an issue for the 2021 Serie A champions. The 28-year-old’s injury record is another. Keita has missed over 80 games due to a variety of fitness issues in the last five seasons. This term, he has made just three Premier League starts, and five appearances overall.
Inter’s financial issues are common knowledge. With funds tight at the San Siro, Simone Inzaghi’s Champions League quarter-finalists were never likely to jump at the chance to bring in a 28-year-old, injury-prone midfielder. Especially one who earns over £6 million a year in wages.
Jurgen Klopp reportedly blocked Keita’s exit in January. But a new contract for the former RB Leipzig dynamo appears out of the question; Liverpool preparing for a summer rebuild with a number of midfielders on their radar. Even if Borussia Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham is likely to be too expensive.
“I think there’s a rebuild needed,” former Anfield favourite Danny Murphy explains. “And by that I mean players out the door and a few more in. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is out of contract. And I wouldn’t be surprised to see Naby Keita go.
“I’m not sure James Milner is going to stay for another year. If he does, he won’t be playing much. That’s three midfielders (leaving).
“The midfield needs freshening up.”
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