|
RUMOURS
Liverpool and Newcastle are weighing up summer moves for Barcelona star Seydou Keita, with the Catalan giants ready to listen to offers for the Mali midfielder. Keita has proved to be a valuable squad player for the Blaugrana following his ￡12million switch from rivals Sevilla in 2008, turning out over 100 times and winning 14 trophies, including the Spanish league title three times, and the Champions League twice. The 32-year-old has earned a reputation as a trusted and reliable box-to-box enforcer under manager Pep Guardiola, having previously been seen as an enthusiastic defensive midfielder during a seven year spell in French football, where he turned out for Marseille, Lorient and Lens, before heading to Spain. However, despite Keita's success at Barcelona, the club are planning to promote a section of exciting youngsters to the first-team next season, including Cristian Tello, Jonathan dos Santos and Sergi Roberto, and are now expected to listen to offers in the region of ￡5million for Keita when the summer transfer window opens. That would suit long-term admirers Liverpool, who were strongly linked with a bid for the Malian in January, where the player admitted he was unsure of his future, saying: "I have enjoyed many new adventures, but I don't know what will happen in the future. We will see what happens." Keita is under contract at the Nou Camp until 2014, but Liverpool and Newcastle are both convinced Keita will leave this summer if he is not promised regular football by Guardiola, something that seems increasingly unlikely. The Magpies are the clear outsiders, but are desperate to add more proven experience to their ranks, and hope the African contingent of Demba Ba, Cheick Tiote, Mehdi Abeid and new boy Papiss Cisse can be key in swaying Keita's decision. The midfielder is set to command wages of around ￡80,000-a-week, which technically rules out a move to smaller sides in France and Spain. | 
Post time 24-2-2012 03:53 PM
