As Real Madid continue to circle around Ibrahima Konaté, Liverpool have reportedly made it clear they are unwilling to sell the superstar defender this summer.
Liverpool spent much of their 2024–25 Premier League-winning campaign with contract talks making the headlines. But while the Reds eventually locked down Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah, they bid farewell to Trent Alexander-Arnold, who joined Real Madrid.
Although the club still wound up getting paid €10 million (£8.4 million, $11.4 million) for the right back, it paled in comparison to what they could have fetched had they sold Alexander-Arnold instead of allowing him to all but run down to the end of his contract.
Liverpool now face a similar situation with Konaté, whose contract expires at the end of this coming season. If the club does not get a new deal done with the Frenchman, he could move on as a free agent and potentially follow Alexander-Arnold to the Spanish capital.
Despite that threat and the interest from Real Madrid and even Paris Saint-Germain, Fabrizio Romano reports the Reds are not open to selling Konaté. Even if one of the European giants met the club’s expected asking price of €50 million (£43.5 million; $58.8 million), Liverpool are currently unwilling to part with the centre back.
The English champions already reportedly offered Konaté a new deal, but saw it rejected due to an unsatisfactory salary for the France international.
The longer the contract talks go unresolved, the closer Konaté could be pushed toward an exit from Merseyside. Even worse than losing the defender for Liverpool would be to lose him for free.
Real Madrid’s interest in Konaté ramped up at the conclusion of the 2024–25 campaign after the Spanish giants conceded 84 goals across all competitions, tying the club-record for the most in a single season.
Although the La Liga runners-up already signed Dean Huijsen from Bournemouth, they are still in the market for another defensive reinforcement given Antonio Rüdiger and David Alaba’s ages and history of injuries.
Konaté is not a player without injury concerns; after all, last season was the first time he played more than 22 league matches since joining Liverpool in 2021. Still, a defender of his quality on the market is exactly the type of player Real Madrid would pursue.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Liverpool ‘Take Firm’ Ibrahima Konate Stance Amid Real Madrid Pursuit.
