The news regarding Xabi Alonso's retirement certainly caught the footballing world by surprise and more importantly it leaves Bayern Munich with a huge gap to fill in midfield.Alonso has been a central figure for Bayern Munich over the last few seasons, and while they did sign Portuguese star Renato Sanches to take his place in the future, the midfielder has not been able to live up to his expectations so far.
Bayern Munich have already signed Hoffenheim midfielder Sebastian Rudy, who is set to join them in the summer, but are also ready to move for RB Leipzig midfielder Naby Keita. The Guinean midfielder is only 22-years-old and has already become one of the hottest prospects in world football, as a number of clubs including Liverpool, Real Madrid and Arsenal have shown an interest.
Bayern Munich are desperate to get a deal done for the highly-talented midfielder as they look to prepare for life without Alonso. Keita has been quite impressive for RB Leipzig this season as they sit in second place in their debut season in the Bundesliga.
He is a really versatile midfielder and can operate as a defensive midfielder, a central midfielder and also as an attacking midfielder. He has been compared to Chelsea's NGolo Kante on a number of occasions for his defensive work, but he has been a driving force while moving forward too, scoring four and assisting eight more.
Keita joined RB Leipzig last June from their sister club Red Bull Salzburg, where he won the Austrian Bundesliga twice and the Austrian cup twice. Apart from Bayern Munich, Liverpool are the only other club to have shown a real interest in him, with Jurgen Klopp a big admirer of the midfielder.
Keita is represented by Arena11 Sports, who also represent Liverpool attacker Sadio Mane, and they said they have received a number of calls from top European clubs who can offer Champions League football, which will be crucial when and if he decides to leave RB Leipzig.
RB Leipzig have stated that Keita will cost around £25 million, but if the Guinean continues his impressive performances for the rest of the season, a lot more clubs will be after him and Leipzig will certainly demand a lot more money to part ways with him.
