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22nd Jul 2017

Liverpool set to go back in with a huge bid for their biggest summer target

What's Jürgen Klopp planning?

Tony Cuddihy

If this doesn’t work, they may as well give up.

Liverpool are set to make a third, and final, bid of £75m to bring Naby Keita to Anfield from RB Leipzig.

The 22-year-old was one of the star performers in the Bundesliga last season as his side finished second only to Bayern Munich, securing Champions League football for the first time in their history.

Leipzig have been adamant that they do not want to sell their talisman but Keita has been chased all summer by Jürgen Klopp, and now Liverpool want to make him the most expensive signing in their history.

It is thought that a bid of £75m – with £40m paid up front – could finally move Leipzig to admit defeat in their efforts to keep Keita, who is entering the final year of his contract.

Klopp, meanwhile, is expected to tell Philippe Coutinho that he has no chance of joining Barcelona this summer.

The Catalan club is reported to have made a bid for the 25-year-old Brazilian playmaker last week but, with Coutinho having only signed a new, long-term deal at Liverpool last season, there is no pressure to sell.

The former Inter Milan star could still fulfil his long-held ambition to play for Barcelona but Klopp expects him to give Liverpool one last season in the hunt for a first ever Premier League title.

Finally, Virgil van Dijk is reportedly training alone as he seeks a move away from Southampton to Liverpool. The Dutchman had seemed destined for Merseyside earlier this summer, but the Reds cooled their interest after Southampton reported their Premier League rivals for allegedly speaking to van Dijk without their permission.