Players who have played for Liverpool and RB Leipzig | OneFootball

Liverpool travel to face RB Leipzig in the Champions League this evening looking to take another step towards the knockout rounds.

Their opponents have emerged as Champions League regulars over the last decade, following Red Bull’s transformation of the German outfit.

A philosophy of faith in youth and high-intensity football has seen Leipzig’s top talent cherry-picked by Europe’s elite and Liverpool have been no strangers to taking players from the Red Bull conveyor belt.

Every player to have played for Liverpool and RB Leipzig

Naby Keita

Jurgen Klopp was certain Naby Keita was the player to transform Liverpool’s midfield, after activating the midfielder’s £52.75m release clause at RB Leipzig. After arriving at Leipzig from sister-club Red Bull Salzburg, Keita was named in the Bundesliga Team of the Season during his debut campaign.

Liverpool struck their agreement to sign Keita in 2017, though the terms meant Keita would link up with the Premier League side a year later.

He was handed the number eight shirt perviously worn by Steven Gerrard, though injury problems prevented the Guinea international from becoming the all-encompassing midfield performer Liverpool believed he would be. Despite some flashes of real quality, it was a rare big-money signing that failed to work out for Klopp at Anfield.

Ibrahima Konate

RB Leipzig snapped up Ibrahima Konate from Sochaux after an impressive debut season for the Frenchman in Ligue 2. The teenager continued his development in German football and piqued the interest of Europe’s top clubs after four seasons in the Bundesliga.

Konate signed for Liverpool in a £36m deal in 2021 and won a League Cup and FA Cup double – in addition to reaching the Champions League final – in his first season.

He has formed an excellent partnership with Virgil van Dijk in recent campaigns and has earned 19 caps for France.

Fabio Carvalho

Fabio Carvalho is the sole player on this list who moved, temporarily at least, in the opposite direction.

After impressing during Fulham’s promotion to the Premier League, Liverpool agreed a deal to sign the midfielder for a knockdown fee of £5m in 2022. He made a bright start, including a 98th minute winning goal against Newcastle, but faded and struggled to establish himself under Jurgen Klopp.

Carvalho was sent on loan to RB Leipzig for the 2023/24 season as the German picked picked up another promising English-based talent, after previous loans for the likes of Emile Smith Rowe and Ademola Lookman.

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Carvalho’s loan was cut short in January, however, after just 15 goalless appearances. He rebuilt on loan at Hull City in the Championship before leaving Liverpool for Brentford in a £27m deal in 2024.

Dominik Szobosozlai

Dominik Szobosozlai could face his former team tonight as the Hungarian returns to Leipzig.

Szobosozlai followed the well-trodden path from Salzburg to Leipzig and emerged as one of the Bundesliga’s best prospects at the Red Bull Arena. He returned 42 goals and assists in 91 appearances for Leipzig before Liverpool activated the £60m release clause in his contract.

The 23-year-old has impressed in a Liverpool shirt with his insatiable work rate and technique, scoring a series of spectacular goals during his first season. The challenge now for Szobosozlai is to increase the end product.

Read – Liverpool XI vs RB Leipzig – Predicted lineup and team news

See more – Champions League highlights: Stunning Real comeback, Villa roll on, Pulisic’s Olimpico

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