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Three builders thought they had won nearly £5,000 on Liverpool signing long-term target Naby Keita - only to be told bookies would not be paying out.

While most Reds fans have been celebrating the club’s capture of the RB Leipzig midfielder , Andrew Gallagher has been left disappointed - because the Guinean won’t be coming to Anfield until next summer.

Andrew and two building site colleagues placed three bets totalling £600 on Keita signing for Liverpool Football Club before September 1.

The 32-year-old says the three of them were given odds of 8/1 at the time they placed their bets at a Liverpool city centre branch of Paddy Power, and all that was written on the slips was “Keita to sign for Liverpool”.

The group were overjoyed when they heard the player had signed for the Reds and went to the bookies to collect their expected £4,800 winnings, only to be told they would not be paying out.

Andrew, from Birkdale , claims Paddy Power told him they wouldn’t pay out due to a technicality that “Keita won’t be playing for Liverpool or in the squad” by the date stated.

He said he planned to spend his money on a new back door for his home and two LFC kits for his children.

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Andrew told the ECHO: “We are working class people who like a bet. How can they deny us our winnings?

“The woman in the shop was quite happy to take our money, she never stated any terms and conditions and never said he needs to sign and play.

“It was just Keita to sign for Liverpool .

“I rang Paddy Power and asked; ‘can Barcelona sign Keita tomorrow’, they said ‘no’ and I said ‘why, because he has signed for Liverpool?’.

“They still are refusing to pay out the money and said that he won’t be playing in the squad before the date.”

The three building site workers made their bets on August 9 - a £400 bet and two bets totalling £100 each.

Andrew, a dad-of-two, said: “The lad who put the £400 bet on is devastated.

“For all they know we could be using this money to pay off debt or sort out money troubles.

“I don’t know how they can take our money off us - at the very least they should give us our stake back.”

Andrew also says he knows of a lot of people in the city facing similar problems.

He told his brother to make the bet, which he did with SkyBet - who he says have also refused to dish out the winnings for similar reasons.

Andrew added: “I have a lot of mates in the same situation.

“I reckon there are a lot of people in Merseyside who have put this bet on too.”

A Paddy Power spokesman said the firm could not comment on specific bets, but added: “In relation to this market - ‘Naby Keita To Sign For Before 1st Of September 2017 – Transfer Specials’ - Keita has not signed for Liverpool, an agreement has been made for him to sign at the end of the season. Such circumstances are specifically covered in our rules.”

The company pointed to the specific rules, which states “the player in question must belong and be registered to the club offered before the specified time frame ends. Any pre-contracts or other similar agreements that confirm business will be completed at a date later than specified in the market will not count for resettlement purposes.”

The spokesman added: “The market will be settled on 2nd September according to Keita’s registered club at that time.”

A SkyBet spokesman said: “The Liverpool statement clearly says an agreement for the ‘future transfer’. The vast majority of our customers who bet on the market have backed Keita to stay at Leipzig therefore it’d be pretty unfair of us to settle that as a loser as he is obviously staying to play for Leipzig.”