There is now growing concern at Anfield about Ibrahima Konate’s Liverpool future, TBR Football can reveal.
Ibrahima Konate will soon have less than 12 months left on his Liverpool contract, a situation that has become frustratingly familiar for sporting director Richard Hughes.
Liverpool had the contract situations of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold hanging over the club’s success last season.
And now Konate’s contract talks are proving to be equally as stressful given the lack of progress that has been made during initial discussions.
TBR Football previously shared that Liverpool were concerned about Konate’s situation, and things haven’t improved at all.
Liverpool’s contract talks with Ibrahima Konate have not gone well
Keeping abreast of the situation, TBR Football chief correspondent Graeme Bailey recently confirmed that Konate was demanding ‘big money’ from Liverpool.
And now in a fresh update, Bailey has confirmed that initial talks ‘have not gone well’, with Konate holding all the power over his future.
Bailey explained: “Liverpool, as we’ve said before, are extremely worried. Konate can’t agree anything with another club at this point, but you know he’s backed himself over the last 12 months.
Ibrahima Konate looks on as Liverpool walk out to play a Premier League match.
Photo by Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
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“Liverpool arguably should’ve got him tied down 12 months ago. He’s had a contract year, he’s backed himself, and now he wants paying as such.
“The initial talks have not gone well. There’s a lot of hurdles in the way. We have said before that he wants big money, not quite Alexander-Arnold money but not a million miles away.
“Konate holds all the cards in the deck right now. Liverpool, even if they wanted to sell, can’t because it’s up to him to accept a move away.
“We’re back to another situation that Liverpool that you could argue is possibly of their own making.
“And yes, it does impact what they’re doing [in the transfer market].”
How Ibrahima Konate statistically changed under Arne Slot last season
Konate was a huge part of Liverpool’s success last season, a key reason they were able to win the Premier League.
And in comparison to the £35m defender’s last campaign under Jurgen Klopp, it might surprise one or two Liverpool fans to know that Konate spent much less time on the ball in the 2024/25 campaign.
Ibrahima Konate Touches (per 90) Passes attempted (per 90) Tackles (per 90) Progressive carries (per 90)
2023/24 season (Klopp) 92.74 83.65 2.06 1.37
2024/25 season (Slot) 76.82 66.97 1.41 0.88
Konate compared across the 2023/24 and 2024/25 Premier League seasons (data: FB Ref).
Under Slot, Konate made less touches, less passes and he actually didn’t get involved in as many defensive actions either.
Of course, Konate’s reduced defensive numbers can be quite easily explained by Liverpool’s enhanced control at the back — Slot’s football is a lot more measured than Klopp’s in many ways.
But it is a slight surprise that the Frenchman wasn’t so influential with the ball at his feet.
Either way, Konate is seriously important for Slot, and Liverpool’s concern looks well justified.