Keita given contract hint by Klopp as Liverpool boss makes 80 games claim

Jurgen Klopp has opened up about the possibility of a new Liverpool contract for midfielder Naby Keita.

Keita, 27, joined from Bundesliga club RB Leipzig in July 2018 in a £59m deal but his current contract comes to an end in the summer of 2023.

The Guinea international has enjoyed a mixed time at Anfield and there has been speculation Liverpool would be willing to let him leave in the future.

Keita is poised to make his 100th appearance for Liverpool in all competitions in their Premier League clash at Brighton on Saturday.

However, when asked about whether the club would open talks with Keita over a new contract Klopp seemed confident a deal will be struck.

"Naby's future will be great, I know that because of the player he is. Until then it makes no sense (to talk about his contract)," Klopp said.

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"I heard if Naby plays it will be game 100, it is an impressive number but it could have been more because he is sometimes injured.

"When he looks back at how he played he is an exceptional footballer, that is why we brought him in the first place. Of those 100 games, I think 80 were really good."

Keita, who was handed the number eight shirt previously worn by club legend Steven Gerrard, has made 67 appearances in the Premier League with six goals and five assists.

Liverpool are 20 points better off than they were after 27 games of last season, while they have scored 24 goals more and conceded 16 fewer.

The Reds boss is hopeful that the title race goes down to the wire as his side aim to keep the pressure up on leaders Manchester City.

Klopp added: "From our point of view I hope so but I don't know because… we spoke about that here now plenty of times and it is always the same.

"Everybody is excited about having the opportunity to have a title race - our problem is we have to play Brighton now, then the game in hand we have a few days later is against Arsenal away.

"In all the thoughts of a lot of people it's like, 'OK, three points, three points…' but there is 180 minutes, at least, of football in between - now only 90 and then another 90.

"So, it's really tough but so far the boys did incredibly well and why should I think we cannot go on?

"It's hard work, yes, but the boys are ready to work hard and then you have to play your best football and if you cannot play your best football, you have to force luck a little bit, that's how it is.

"We will try everything but from our point of view we cannot call it a title race because we are still behind and all these kind of things, but we try to win football games and let's see."