There was a lot of drama at RB Leipzig training on Monday afternoon.
Manager Ralph Hasenhüttl was forced to bring the session to a premature end due to a challenge from his in-demand midfielder, Naby Keita.
Keita remains Liverpool’s top target this summer and the Reds have failed with two bids already in this window, worth £57 million and £66.3 million, but perhaps Jurgen Klopp will be somewhat concerned by the display of indiscipline from the Guinea international this week.
Reports emerged on Monday of a collision between Keita and Leipzig teammate Diego Demme, which resulted in other players confronting Keita for seeing red in training.
He injured a teammate with a "brutal foul" https://t.co/x1HOC78BFa
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) July 24, 2017
The tackle came as retribution for an earlier challenge from Demme but Keita undeniably used excessive force at their preseason camp in Seefeld, Austria.
Demme required extensive medical treatment and left the pitch with strapping on his right knee while German outlet Bild suggested that Keita’s challenge stemmed from a sense of frustration about the fact that he was not being allowed to move to the Premier League, although that is entirely speculative.
Descriptions of the incident were initially based on reports from the few people at the training pitch but now footage has emerged of the tackle.
And it’s pretty bad.
Keita would likely have been shown a red card if this took place in a competitive game and that definitely tells you that challenges like the above have no place on the training ground.
