Milan offered €60m Liverpool midfielder for free

Stuart Telford

• 30 Mar 2023 19:29 BST
• 3 min read

AC Milan are reportedly closing on the free transfer signing of Naby Keita, who cost Liverpool €60 million when he joined from RB Leipzig in 2018.

Keita's acquisition had been an exciting one, the Guinean having also been scouted by Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur among others before the Reds won the race for his signature.

Keita had contributed 16 goal-involvements in his final season in Germany, but injuries and crumbling confidence meant that he never re-found that form at Anfield, and his contract will not be renewed beyond the end of June.

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But the 28-year-old will have takers, with Milan keen to sign him according to reports in Italy.

Maldini offered Keita

"Milan are set to work intently in the next summer transfer market," report CalcioMercato. "[Paolo] Maldini and [Frederic] Massara were offered several players in the January window: one of these is Keita who will now leave Liverpool at the end of the season once his contract expires."

— Football Transfers (@Transfersdotcom) March 2, 2023

Keita is yet to make more than 16 starts in his five Premier League campaigns to date, with ankle and hamstring injuries among those giving him the worst trouble.

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But it speaks to how far his stock has fallen that Liverpool would rather offload them when they are going through something of a midfield crisis.

James Milner and Jordan Henderson are 37 and 32 respectively, while Thiago Alcantara, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Arthur Melo have joined Keita in the treatment room this season.

The Reds top transfer target next summer is Jude Bellingham, but Borussia Dortmund's nascent England international is also wanted by a host of Europe's top teams, including Real Madrid and Manchester City.

Milner and Oxlade-Chamberlain are also out of contract at the end of the season, as are their Anfield teammates Roberto Firmino and Adrian.

Milan had wanted to re-sign Franck Kessie, meanwhile, but the Barcelona midfielder could prove to be prohibitively expensive.