Liverpool's record-breaking pursuit of Naby Keita is over for this summer after they accepted RB Leipzig are unwilling to do business.
Jurgen Klopp had targeted the Guinea international as being someone who would provide drive and dynamism to his midfield and was prepared to back his judgement in the player with the biggest transfer outlay in Liverpool’s history.
Liverpool had an initial bid of £57million at the start of this month rebuffed by Leipzig, who put up barriers from the outset when it became apparent that Klopp wanted to take Keita to the Premier League.
They returned with an offer that, with add-ons, was worth more than £66million – a fee that would have been worth almost double what Liverpool spent to bring Mohamed Salah from Roma at the beginning of this transfer window.