RB Leipzig Tired of “Boring” Naby Keïta Transfer Talk

Having previously said that their “pain threshold,” the point at which they would have to consider a sale of Naby Keïta despite claiming they have no intention to do so, was €80M, RB Leipzig CEO Oliver Mintzlaff finds any further discussion of the situation to be, well, boring.

“That topic is boring,” he said when asked by Germany’s SportBuzzer if the club had any intention of selling Keïta this summer. “It is our second season in the Bundesliga, our team is still the youngest and probably the most inexperienced. It would be great if we started where we left off—if there is no upheaval.”

As Mintzlaff outlines it, stability is the preference for Leipzig, who only made the step up to the Bundesliga last season and then managed to finish second, securing their place in the Champions League for the coming season. Like Leicester City last summer in England, though, more established clubs are circling.

For all the talk of keeping the squad together, there have already been signs of discontent, with Emil Forsberg’s agent publicly slamming the club for not being open to moving on his client—stating that Forsberg signed up with the intent of helping them to move up before moving on himself.

According to Forsberg’s camp, Leipzig have gone back on their word. As far as Leipzig are concerned, though, with success having come much sooner than expected, those players who had seen them as a stepping stone owe the club at least one more season—a year of stability.

Keïta’s camp, meanwhile, is keeping quiet by comparison, but the Guinean international has returned to Leipzig a week early, an unusual move expected to lead to discussions with the club about his future and a desire to depart Leipzig for Liverpool this summer.

What happens next is anyone’s guess. Just don’t ask Leipzig about it—as far as they’re concerned, they’ve made their position more than clear.