Liverpool have seemingly been given a slight boost in their reported pursuit of RB Leipzig centre-half Dayot Upamecano.
The Reds are said to hold an interest in the towering Frenchman, with The Athletic claiming he’s one of three main targets for Jurgen Klopp.
Leipzig CEO Oliver Mintzlaff has now admitted the German side are open to the possibility of selling some of their stars in upcoming transfer windows.
Speaking to BILD, the chief also namedropped Liverpool midfielder Naby Keita when talking about how much his club has “redeemed” in recent years.
“We have a very broad squad in terms of quality. So we will give up high performers again if it makes financial sense and we can absorb it in a sporting way,” he said.
“When I think of Werner, Cunha, Keïta or Demme, we have already redeemed a lot and still developed further in terms of sport. Overall we have invested a lot in our team, no question about it.
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“But look: the current squad had a market value of less than 250 million when each player debuted. And if we now take the current market value, we are around 550 million.
“This plus of over 300 million has to be taken into account when talking about investments. We create value with our way.“
While these quotes come from someone working at the very top of RB Leipzig, it’s worth noting they’re are the words of the CEO, he’s going to be more business orientated than someone like the manager.
As far as Mintzlaff is concerned, as long as the club are able to bring in players for X amount and then double their money – as they have done – they’re doing a great job.
With that being said, although there are genuine links between Liverpool and Upamecano, it’s clear the Reds won’t snap him up in a cut-price deal – but it’s also encouraging to hear Leipzig are potentially open for business.