Liverpool may need to address Ibrahima Konate's situation at the club after they suffered a fourth consecutive Premier League defeat to Brentford on Saturday night.
The central defender has been attracting plenty of headlines with his contract at Anfield set to expire next summer. As it stands, the French defender is yet to pen a new contract with the Reds, leaving his future in doubt.
As a result, Konate is free to discuss terms over a pre-contract agreement with non-English club from January 1, meaning that Liverpool risk losing their star defender for nothing.
Having signed the 26-year-old for a fee of £36million in 2021, it means that Arne Slot's side risk making a huge loss on a player with an estimated value of around £55million.
Arne Slot Must Make Ibrahima Konate Decision
Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate
Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate
Liverpool's performances this season have been hugely disappointing. Most recently, the Reds fell to a 3-2 defeat to Brentford on Saturday evening — a result which was the fourth loss in a row in the Premier League and their fifth defeat in six games in all competitions.
In that match, Konate was criticised for his role in Kevin Schade's effort goal that put the Bees 2-0 up, with the defender appearing to stop chasing the forward as he closed in on goal, and was handed a 4/10 rating by Goal for his performance.
Most surprisingly, the Reds have already conceded 14 times so far in the league. After conceding 41 goals in the entirety of last year's 38-game season, it represents a significant decline in their defensive solidity. Liverpool are just the fourth reigning Premier League champions to lose four consecutive games in a season after Leicester in 2016-17 (5), Liverpool themselves in 2020-21 (4) and Manchester City last season (4).
While new signings at full-back have contributed to this downfall, Konate has also come in for criticism, with one theory being that the Frenchman has checked out of life at Anfield as uncertainty over his future swirls.
This came after Gary Neville revealed that Konate had 'annoyed' head coach Slot during Liverpool's recent clash with Chelsea. The Athletic's James Pearce also claimed that the defender has 'regressed alarmingly'.
As a result, Slot may need to make a brutal decision to axe the defender if he's not convinced that he's fully committed to the cause. Joe Gomez is an able deputy who is currently fit, while Wataru Endo has also played in central defence.
After finishing last season as champions with a ten-point buffer over nearest rivals Arsenal, this season is set to be a much bigger challenge for the Reds. That's because Slot's side are already four points off the top of the table, having played one match more than the league-leading Gunners.
If Liverpool are serious about going on to win the title, then Slot needs to address Konate's form and if it doesn't improve, he likely needs to consider dropping him until it's clear that he's fully committed to the Liverpool cause.