Liverpool continue to be linked with a move for RB Leipzig defender Ibrahima Konate.
The ECHO understands that Konate is on a four or five-man shortlist of centre-backs that the Reds are looking at this summer.
Ozan Kabak is included on that shortlist, but it is believed that RB Leipzig's Ibrahima Konate is the frontrunner at this point .
Various reports over the last 24 hours have said that a deal to bring Konate to Anfield is close to being completed.
Fabrizio Romano has claimed that Konate’s deal to join Liverpool is ‘confirmed’ and he will sign for the Reds ‘soon’.
It has also been suggested that Konate’s contract at Leipzig has a £36m buyout clause which Liverpool may need to activate should they wish to sign the player.
Konate himself has played down the rumours of an exit from the Bundesliga side and is focused on his current challenges at both club and international level.
"I woke up, I saw my phone ringing all over the place. I just wanted to tell them, 'Hey, I played yesterday, I'm tired, leave me alone'," Konate told French newspaper L'Equipe during the March international break.
"Frankly, I don't even watch this. We can't focus on that, there are the Euros and then my return to the club. You have to focus on that and not on the external things."
Leipzig chief Oliver Mintzlaff has opened up on the future of Ibrahima Konate amid interest from Liverpool.
“We’ll see what happens. I spoke to him this week”, Mintzlaff is quoted telling Sky Deutschland earlier this month.
“No decision has been made yet.
“There is an exit clause. That’s why we don’t sit in the driver’s seat.
“He is a player we want to keep.”
