With less than 12 months left of his current deal, Liverpool are facing a familiar situation with Ibrahima Konate and one that Anfield chiefs must solve sooner rather than later.
Ibrahima Konate contract latest
Of course, it wasn’t so long ago that Liverpool faced this exact situation with Trent Alexander-Arnold. But as the former Liverpool star is finding out, life at Real Madrid offers no guarantee of game time. As things stand, he finds himself behind veteran Dani Carvajal in the pecking order under Xabi Alonso, which recently cost him his England place.
Whether Konate heeds that warning is the big question. The Frenchman has been locked in talks with Liverpool without the emergence of an outcome that suits all parties. It’s been a frustrating situation for all involved, but one that Konate far from helped on international duty when he joked that Kylian Mbappe is attempting to lure him to Real Madrid.
Had Liverpool signed Marc Guehi on deadline day like it looked as though they would then any concerns around Konate’s future may have been eased. After Crystal Palace pulled the plug on their captain’s late switch, however, Arne Slot has been left with four senior centre-backs, which includes the injury-prone Joe Gomez.
Guehi could still become a Liverpool player at the end of his own contract in the summer, but keeping Konate should still be the priority. After a tough start to the season, the Frenchman has been back to his dominant best in the last two games against Arsenal and Burnley, helping his side keep their first two clean sheets of the season.
Alas, with his contract ticking down, and Real Madrid stepping things up, Liverpool have a big decision to make on Konate’s future.
Liverpool now considering Konate decision
According to reports in Spain, Michael Edwards and Liverpool are now considering selling Konate in the January transfer window. The central defender is reportedly set to be the subject of a winter offer from Real Madrid, who are ready to go all out amid their centre-back crisis.
The Spanish giants are supposedly ready to offer €40m (£35m) in an attempt to sign Konate in January in what is similar to the £20m that they offered to sign Alexander-Arnold last winter. Last time around, Liverpool rejected Madrid’s early attempts. This time, things could seemingly be different.
It’s no surprise that there’s been some added urgency from Madrid in their chase for the Frenchman, either. Dean Huijsen has endured a shaky start to life at the Bernabeu and Antonio Rudiger’s recent injury has once again left them short on options.
Dubbed “fantastic” by Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk, the Reds won’t want to lose Konate on a free like they did Alexander-Arnold, but there’s no denying that he would be a tough player to replace midway through the current campaign.
