Hamann happy for Liverpool to pay £70m for Keita

Liverpool’s Champions League winning midfielder Dietmar Hamann has no problem with the club doubling their transfer record to sign Naby Keita.

RB Leipzig are determined not to budge from their £70m valuation of the Guinea midfielder but Hamann believes Liverpool need to speculate to accumulate a place in the group stages of the Champions League.

Keita has a buy-out clause of £48m which comes into play next summer but Liverpool will have to go significantly higher to buy him now, though Keita himself is said to be keen to make the switch to Anfield.

“Would £70million put me off buying Keita? No,” Hamann told the Liverpool Echo.

“Just getting through the play-off round and into the group stage of the Champions League would pay off a big chunk of that fee.

“With Keita on board, Liverpool would have an even better chance of getting through.

“You can question the fees being mentioned for the likes of (Virgil) Van Dijk and Keita, but if you want the top players you have to pay the going rate.

“It’s no good saying the market value is £30m because you aren’t going to get someone like that for that fee.

“If Liverpool had to pay £60m or £70m to get Keita it wouldn’t worry me. You are buying a top player for years to come.”