The backbone of Liverpool’s stunning 2024-25 title win was their defensive partnership at the back, with skipper Virgil van Dijk and France international Ibrahima Konate combining to form one of the best centre-back pairings in the Premier League.
Liverpool shipped in just 26 goals in the 30 games that the pair started together in the league, with the 34-year-old Van Dijk signing a contract extension in April, securing his immediate future at the club.
But in a busy summer for the Reds which has already seen Trent Alexander-Arnold depart for Real Madrid, Konate’s future has come under the microscope.
Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konate stance
26-year-old Konate, who joined the Reds from RB Leipzig in a £36 million 2021 move and was ranked at no.28 in FourFourTwo's best Premier League players of the 2024.25 season, is now into the final year of his contract.
After seeing Alexander-Arnold depart to Real Madrid for a reduced fee before the Club World Cup this summer, Liverpool will be well aware that the centre-back will be a free agent in less than 12 months.
Arne Slot’s side are not blessed with much depth in central defence, with Van Dijk, Konate and Joe Gomez the only recognised senior options, adding more urgency to this situation.
Real Madrid were last week credited with interest in Konate, with Spanish outlet AS reporting that the defender would like to move to the Bernabeu. However, a fresh report from AS has now outlined Liverpool’s stance as they claim that the Reds will not budge on their €50 million price tag.
Real Madrid have earmarked between €20-25 million for a centre-back this summer and AS now claim in their Monday edition that Liverpool ‘remain rigid’ and are willing to let Konate play into the final year of his contract, in the hope that he would follow the examples of Van Dijk and Mohamed Salah by signing a new deal.
However, a further report claims that the Merseysiders have a Plan B in place, as TEAMtalk claim they would be willing to act their long-standing interest in Crystal Palace and England defender Marc Guehi.
A bid of £40 million has been mooted, should Liverpool need to replace Konate, with Guehi also into the final year of his contract and Palace ready to see him depart, if the price is right.
In FourFourTwo’s view, it is interesting to see just how willing Liverpool have been to let key players move into the final year of their contracts.
The noise around the futures of Alexander-Arnold, Salah and Van Dijk did not derail their progress on the pitch last season, suggesting that they may feel confident in convincing Konate his future is best served at Anfield.
But like all well-run clubs, contingency plans must exist and Guehi – valued at €45million by Transfermarkt – would be an excellent, home-grown replacement for Slot.
