Sky Sports journo: Contract "not in sight" for £120k-pw ace, it's a blow for Liverpool - opinion

Liverpool have been verging on a midfield injury crisis since the season began, and now a reliable source has put even more stress on the problems in the centre of the pitch with a Naby Keita contract update.

According to Sky Sports journalist Florian Plettenberg, a new contract for midfielder Keita is seemingly not on the table at the moment.

Plettenberg tweeted on Sunday morning:

“Update Keita: Very important game against Man Utd regarding his plans in this transfer window.

“Nothing has changed. LFC wants to extend, Klopp wants him to stay. But talks have stopped, an agreement is not in sight at this stage. He wants to play regularly.”

At this moment Liverpool are in no position to be allowing more exits from Anfield with nine players already making the move away from the Merseyside giants, especially in the midfield positions that have been considerably weakened with ongoing fitness issues. As a result, the continued doubts surrounding Keita’s future is certainly a blow for Klopp, particularly as he wants him to remain in Merseyside.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Curtis Jones and Thiago Alcantara are all currently sidelined for the foreseeable future, so unless Liverpool are going to make a last-minute swoop for a midfielder this summer, there is no way they can afford to let go of Keita.

Despite his constant injury problems that have hindered his opportunities to become a consistent feature in the Reds’ midfield three, Keita is a reliable player in the team when fit and replacing that experience in the centre of the pitch will be a struggle over the remaining ten days of the transfer window.

Keita ranks in the top 10% of his positional peers in the top five European leagues over the last year for progressive carries,