RB Leipzig sporting director Ralf Rangnick has conceded he does not expect Naby Keita to sign a new deal after being heavily linked with a move away this summer.
Keita was keen to leave the Bundesliga side to play for Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool this summer but the move was blocked by Leipzig, who have constantly reiterated no key players are for sale.
The 22-year-old has a €50m (£44.7m) release clause in his current deal that will become active next summer and Rangnick believes Keita will only sign a new deal based on the team’s success this season.
“I am not currently assuming that we will be able to extend his contract prematurely,” Rangnick told Sport Bild, via Get German Football. “I can assure you that Naby will be playing with us this season. All other scenarios also depend on how we do this season, how Naby plays himself and so on.
“It does not matter at all whether it’s €75m or €100m. We have not developed for five years or so that we can lose one of our best players in the first Champions League season. That would make no sense. We want to be successful in sports.”
Keita established himself as one of the best players in Germany during his first ever campaign in the Bundesliga last season and will not be short of suitors next summer when he has shown his skills in UEFA’s premier competition.
The Guinea international played a direct hand in 15 league goals (eight goals, seven assists) from his box-to-box role last season, while also completing the second most amount of dribbles in the Bundesliga (103).
