Southampton made an enquiry to sign Naby Keita from RB Leipzig prior to his move to Liverpool, according to former Saints vice-president Les Reed.
The midfielder joined the Reds in the summer of 2018, with a move to Anfield being agreed with the Bundesliga outfit the year before.
Like Liverpool, Southampton have done business with the Red Bull group in the past, having signed Sadio Mane from Red Bull Salzburg in a £10m deal in 2014 - two years before his own move to Merseyside.
Following the Senegalese's success at St. Mary's, Reed has confirmed Southampton were interested in signing Keita.
However, he admitted the Saints were swiftly priced out of a deal following Mane's success with the club.
“We made enquiries about Naby Keita after Sadio," he told The Transfer Tavern. "And that then doubled, it was kind of, you blew us out of the water with Sadio and we’re not letting that happen again.
“I had quite a good relationship with Ralf Rangnick, he’s a proper negotiator, but I think Red Bull wised up. And then the Red Bull empire grew and it was like having four Ajax’s rather than one, if you like, and they really got onto the recruitment of young players, the development of young players, and selling them on for a profit really, really well, almost machine-like.
“And that put the prices up for them, so that was one area.”
