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Liverpool’s transfer window has been plain sailing so far but there could be a saga on the horizon.
Liverpool have given themselves a lot of breathing space this summer which, on paper, should give them more time to deal with the situation of contract rebel Ibrahima Konate.
The France international is one of Europe’s finest centre-halves and a key component in Arne Slot’s team alongside Virgil van Dijk. Goals win games, however, defences win championships, and few are better than the one that protects Alisson Becker.
At 26-years old Konate is approaching his peak and with just one year left on his contract, is fully entitled to get the best possible deal for him and for what he thinks he is worth to the club. Players don’t quite have all the power nowadays, but they certainly have most of it.
What is the sticking point in Liverpool’s negotiations with Ibrahima Konate?
The latest development sees Real Madrid and Paris Saint Germain put on red alert with Konate reported to have rejected the latest contract offer from Liverpool, according to Caught Offside.
“Konate wants a guaranteed weekly wage of £200,000, with the 26-year-old apparently not satisfied with Liverpool’s current proposal, which puts a lot more emphasis on performance-related bonuses.”
It is easy to forget that players aren’t fans and, despite the success of last season, Konate has no loyalty to Liverpool, nor does he owe them anything. If he wants to see out his last year, he can, and there is little that can be done if he digs his heels in.
Konate goes back on Arne Slot trust
Speaking in January to the Liverpool media team, there was no hint of unhappiness or problems with the manager, in fact, it was exactly the opposite: “To be on the pitch, you have the pressure, you have some stress, but for a football player I think this feeling is unbelievable.
“We know how to play, we really know how to play,” Konate said of the defence.
“I think the manager trusts me because I was injured for six weeks, I trained just one time with the team and I played. I think because we know how to defend together and how to play, I was not lost on the pitch. I just need more rhythm. I think the mentality in our squad is really together and we just have to keep going this season.”
It is a shame that this trust doesn’t seem to be getting repaid to Arne Slot by Konate, it is a relationship that should work both ways, unfortunately though, football just doesn’t work like that now.
A move for Marc Guehi at Crystal Palace has been spoken about and given that the England international has just one year on his current contract too, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him replace Konate.
Expected the unexpected because it looked like Mo Salah’s time on Merseyside was up only for him to put pen to paper on a new deal. The Egyptian legend wouldn’t have been quite as easy to replace.
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