A “tremendous” Liverpool player is now in advanced talks over a move away from the club in the near future, in a potential big blow for the Reds.
Liverpool star Konate coy over his future
The Premier League champions enjoyed a summer transfer window to treasure, bringing in Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak for club-record amounts, and also signing the likes of Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez and Hugo Ekitike, among others.
That said, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Luis Diaz were among the Liverpool players to move on, and there are also doubts surrounding the futures of some other current stars.
One of them is Ibrahima Konate, with the 26-year-old continually linked with a move to Real Madrid in the near future, and he discussed his future during the summer, playing down an exit but also not exactly committing himself to the Reds.
“You know, I just want to say one thing: Everything you saw on social media is completely fake. I didn’t even ask for something from the club. They made me an offer, and I replied to them with something, that is it. The rest (speculation) that I want to wait until the end…I want this, all of it is completely fake.
“And even the big journalists said in November I am very close to signing the deal. I was like: ‘Ah, they have more information than me!?’ Because it was not true at that moment and that is why I was a little bit mad because it was not true at this moment.”
Konate in advance talks to leave Liverpool for Real Madrid
According to Marca journalist Jose Felix Diaz on YouTube, Liverpool centre-back Konate is now in “very advanced” talks to join Madrid in 2026.
The Frenchman is out of contract at the end of this season, and he is yet to commit his future to the Reds by signing a new long-term deal at the club.
This is clearly a worrying situation for Liverpool, with the lure of Madrid great for any player, and Kylian Mbappe could be doing his utmost to persuade his international colleague to join him at the club, as well as Alexander-Arnold.
Konate may have made a patchy start to the season for the Reds, admittedly performing well in the 1-0 win over Arsenal, but he is a key man who remains a great foil for Virgil van Dijk, being hailed by Micah Richards in the past.
“I watched him a lot at Leipzig – there’s so much potential. There’s all these things he’s tremendous at – last ditch tackles he can do that, he can get back in, pace – no problem at all. To go to the next level now if he can just concentrate a little bit more and be a bit more assured on the ball.”
Granted, Konate isn’t irreplaceable, and he is guilty of having lapses in form from time to time, but keeping hold of him makes far more sense than selling him.
In fairness to the France international, he deserves to be earning more than his current £70,000-a-week wages, and if Liverpool aren’t offering him what he wants, there is an inevitability about what will happen next.