When Liverpool agreed to sign Naby Keita in the summer of 2017, the deal they struck with RB Leipzig would have made the Guinean a club record signing.
The Reds would end up paying £52.75m for the midfielder 12 months later, having reached a unique agreement with the Bundesliga outfit. With Jurgen Klopp desperate to sign Keita, but Leipzig determined to retain his services for a further season, as they competed in the Champions League for the first time, Liverpool signed off on a deal ahead of a move in the summer of 2018, with the overall price set by the German side’s final league position that season.
Had they finished seventh on lower, the Reds would have parted with £48m (His basic release clause that was set to come into play in the summer of 2018). If they had qualified for the Champions League, Keita would have cost £59m. Yet a sixth place finish and Europa League qualification resulted in a £52.75m fee.
