Naby Keita not available even if Liverpool offer €100m this summer, insist RB Leipzig

RB Leipzig insist there is no release clause in Naby Keita's contract, adding not even a (€100m £88.4m, $114m) offer would tempt them into selling the midfielder to Liverpool.

After having a pivotal role to play in Leipzig's first ever campaign in the Bundesliga last term, Keita, 22, has emerged as a major transfer target for Jurgen Klopp's side. The German club have been insistent they are not willing to cash in on any of their prized assets ahead of their maiden campaign in the Champions League next season, but interest from Merseyside remains with The Times reporting the Reds will test Leipzig's resolve with a club record £70m bid.

While Liverpool may want the Guinea international now, reports suggest a release clause allowing the midfielder to leave for £48m will become active next summer. The club's sporting director Ralf Rangnick had dismissed those suggestions however and re-iterated the club's hard-line stance over player sales this summer.

"There are no players in our squad who have an exit clause," Rangnick said, Goal report. "I will repeat it one more time, we will not sell any of our key players. There are a lot of reports about there being a certain figure where we could be open to a sale, but they are all false.

"We are not selling anyone even if we are talking about a three-figure transfer fee and the players know that. I have already said that before and nothing has changed in that aspect."

Liverpool have already broken their transfer record once this summer in bringing Mohamed Salah to the club from Roma. Dominic Solanke has also joined up from Chelsea.

Their pursuit of Keita has so far proved frustrating with the club also failing in their bid to sign Southampton's Virgil van Dijk, a saga which resulted in Liverpool having to issue a humiliating apology to the south coast club.

While Klopp anticipates the remainder of the window being "difficult", he says the club are remaining calm with plenty of work being done behind the scenes.

"Yes, it will be a difficult one, maybe it is getting more and more difficult, especially in England but we have made a lot of good things so far. If you cannot see it so far, you can imagine we have done a lot of things behind the scenes.

"Sometimes you need to be patient and that is what we are at the moment – to wait for the right moment and then we will see what happens."