Liverpool set for blockbuster 2023 transfer as Keita replacement lined up
FT Desk
- 18 Aug 2022 19:50 BST
- 3 min read
Liverpool are set to complete a stunning move for Jude Bellingham in 2023 as Naby Keita's heir in midfield.
The Reds struck early in the current transfer window to bring both Darwin Nunez and Fabio Carvalho to Anfield at the start of the summer.
But two back-to-back draws have made for a muted start to the Premier League season, amid fears that the club still needs to strengthen in the engine room.
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Injuries to several key first-teamers, most recently Thiago Alcantara, have left Liverpool lacking options in the position.
But while they may only land one top target next summer, he will be worth the wait.
Bellingham, 19, has dazzled for Borussia Dortmund since moving from Birmingham City in 2020 and is now considered one of the world's premier young midfielders.
According to the Daily Mail, he is expected to join Liverpool in the summer of 2023, in turn possibly spelling the end for a club favourite.
Keita on the way out?
Naby Keita is out of contract next year and there has been some speculation over whether the club would cash in on their player now rather than lose him on a free down the line.
But with his replacement seemingly in place, Keita will remain at Anfield for his fifth season, though Liverpool still hold out hope of a new deal for the 27-year-old.
Manager Jurgen Klopp, meanwhile, insists that he is not desperate for a short-term midfield solution this window.
"I am happy with the strength, size and quality of my squad. We have injuries, that's how it is. Now it is a question of how long the players will be out for and there [are] different solutions for it," he told reporters after Monday's draw with Crystal Palace.
"One of them is the transfer market but the transfer market only makes sense if you can bring in the right player. The right player, not a player.
"If we bring in the right player then it could make sense but we always would have done that from the first day of the transfer window or the first day of pre-season."
