Liverpool transfer news: Coutinho replacement and early Keita arrival

Jurgen Klopp’s side have already shelled out a world record fee for a defender to land Dutch centre-back Virgil Van Dijk (£75m) and Liverpool are not planning to stop there.

Liverpool have dominated the transfer stories in the Premier League over the last week, here we round-up rumours associated with the Reds.

‘Thomas Lemar could leave Monaco this month’

Liverpool are not in any rush to sign a replacement for Philippe Coutinho despite his £142m world record move to Barcelona at the start of January but it’s clear they would like to get a deal done for Thomas Lemar if they can.

The Monaco winger turned down Arsenal in the summer and prefers a move to link up with Klopp at Anfield, which has put Liverpool in pole position for his signature.

Monaco made it clear at the start of the month that none of their key players would be leaving during the winter transfer window but the comments made by head coach Leonardo Jardim would suggest otherwise.

“You know how crazy the transfer window is… a club like Monaco cannot say no,” The Independent quote Jardim as saying on Thursday. “We haven’t discussed anything with Lemar because he already knows what we want.

“If I stay at Monaco for 10 years I would want Lemar to stay for 10 years. Today the market is open. You know very well how crazy the market is. There are offers that happen that a club like Monaco can’t say no to.

“The market, the numbers are very high so the situation can change at any time.”

Lemar has not hit the same heights as he did last season but neither have Monaco. Jardim’s side are nine points adrift of PSG in the defence of their Ligue 1 title and have already crashed out of the Champions League.

Since the start of last season, only three players have registered more assists than Lemar (14) in Ligue 1.

‘Liverpool try to sign Naby Keita this month’

The departure of Philippe Coutinho has also accelerated Liverpool’s desire to sign RB Leipzig midfielder Naby Keita this month, reports The Daily Telegraph.

Jurgen Klopp’s side agreed a £54m deal with Leipzig in the summer to sign Keita at the end of the season and have reportedly been told they will need to shell out another £17m if they want to bring forward that deal.

Leipzig’s head coach has already rubbished those reports and insists Keita will not be going anywhere until the summer, but the Merseysiders are still working on a deal.

Keita has reportedly stopped learning German and has started to practise English ahead of his move to Anfield but the 22-year-old would also like to complete a switch during the January transfer window.

Leipzig are out of the Champions League and outside the top four in the Bundesliga on goal difference as things stand. Keeping Keita has been made a priority as they look to secure qualification into Europe’s premier competition for the second season in a row.

Since the start of last season, Keita has completed at least 25 more dribbles than any other Bundesliga player (129).