Naby Keita is close to agreeing a new contract at Liverpool, according to a report.
The Guinea international has endured a largely underwhelming four years at Anfield since joining from RB Leipzig - who received £52.8m for his services - in 2018.
Injuries have not helped Keita's cause, but the 27-year-old has struggled to become a regular starter when fit amid competition from Fabinho, Thiago Alcantara and Jordan Henderson.
Keita did make 40 appearances in all tournaments for Liverpool last season - registering four goals and three assists - but he only started 14 matches in the Premier League.
The terms that Keita signed upon his arrival at Liverpool are now due to expire at the end of the current campaign, and there has been uncertainty surrounding the possibility of an extension for the ex-Leipzig man.
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However, The Sun now reports that both club and player are on the verge of coming to an agreement which would extend Keita's stay on Merseyside.
The report adds that Liverpool would be content with keeping Keita in his rotation role, as agreeing a new deal with the midfielder would be cheaper than scouring the transfer market for a replacement.
The Reds are said to be hopeful about their chances of agreeing a new deal with Keita, who has amassed a total of 10 goals and seven assists in 115 outings for Jurgen Klopp's side.
Keita has also collected a haul of medals at Anfield, winning the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup, EFL Cup, Community Shield, Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup.
The former Red Bull Salzburg youngster played the final six minutes of last weekend's Community Shield success over Manchester City before missing Saturday's 2-2 Premier League draw with Fulham due to illness.
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Klopp expects Keita to be fine for the visit of Crystal Palace on August 15, but the Reds boss was dealt another blow after Thiago Alcantara came off with a suspected hamstring problem at Craven Cottage.
Klopp nevertheless poured cold water over the prospect of Liverpool signing a new midfielder to plug the gap in the coming weeks, telling reporters: "I know what will now come up, it's clear.
"We said we don't need a midfielder because we have enough - and we actually have enough, but the problem now is we get punished for something that is not our responsibility really because things like this can happen.
"Look, a transfer must make sense now and in the long-term; we have midfielders, we have still enough midfielders. It is not that we lack midfielders, but it's just some of them are injured.
"This is not a good situation, I don't like it at all, but we have to see how we react on that - but for sure not panicking."
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Curtis Jones are also sidelined with injuries at present, joining Diogo Jota, Caoimhin Kelleher, Kostas Tsimikas and Ibrahima Konate in the treatment room.
Liverpool have already had a busy summer of contract extensions, tying Jota, James Milner, Joe Gomez and Mohamed Salah down to new deals over the past several weeks.
Ben Knapton
