Some high-profile centre-backs will be out of contract next summer - but how will Liverpool's look to take advantage? Paul Gorst takes a look
Marc Guehi of Crystal Palace and Ibrahima Konate of Liverpool are both set to be free agents this summer
Marc Guehi of Crystal Palace and Ibrahima Konate of Liverpool are both set to be free agents this summer
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Not for the first time that night, Ibrahima Konate read the danger early. The Liverpool defender was fresh from beating Aston Villa 2-0 earlier this month when he made his way through what was, by that time of the evening, a virtually empty Anfield mixed zone.
Before he had even reached the doors of the entrance, though, Konate was already making his excuses. A request to stop and chat about a morale-boosting win was met with a polite rejection and a claim that his family were waiting for him in the players' lounge.
The Frenchman will have known full well that the conversation, had he stopped to speak to the two or three reporters who were still lying in wait, would have moved on to his current contract status on Merseyside.
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And for a player who has developed a reputation for being open and honest in his chats with journalists, it was likely decided that silence was the best policy.
Liverpool's season was dominated by contract talks last time out as the uncertainty over Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold dragged into April before a resolution was found on all three.
Salah and Van Dijk signed respective two-year deals before Alexander-Arnold formally announced his decision to leave in early May. After a season of endless questions and opinions, supporters finally had their answers at the back end of the term.
This time around Konate, alongside Andy Robertson, finds himself in that same boat and while the eft-back was honest in his admission at the Etihad on Sunday that talks were yet to get underway behind the scene, there has been no update on the centre-back's situation since May 25, when, on his 26th birthday, he claimed various media reports were "completely fake".
Konate is around six weeks away from speaking to clubs outside of England about a pre-contract agreement and the fact that has gone under the radar somewhat speaks to both the troubled campaign Arne Slot's champions are having so far and the patchy form displayed by the France international himself.
Twelve months ago, Salah turned the attention away from his blistering displays on the pitch, to tell a handful of publications that included the ECHO at Southampton that he was "more out than in" over a new deal at Anfield.
It sent shock waves around the Premier League at the time, with the admission taking up a segment of the following evening's Monday Night Football coverage with Jamie Carragher on Sky Sports.
That piece then led to a good-natured back and forth exchange between Salah and Carragher on social media and the comments from the Egyptian sparked widespread debate.
Konate's utterances, whatever they might have been at Anfield after the Villa win, would almost certainly not have reached those levels, but the decision to keep his counsel means supporters are no nearer to discovering the lay of the land over his future.
Interest in Marc Guehi is almost certain to be revisited next year when the Crystal Palace defender is out of contract. The idea of signing an England international centre-back for nothing, just as he turns 26, is one that understandably appeals to Anfield officials.
And having seen Guehi undergo a medical on September 1 before his £35m move was called off at the 11th hour, it's fair to assume there would be a degree of confidence at Liverpool that they will eventually get their man.
Does that indicate why there is a relaxed nature over Konate's current impasse? And is there a thought process where it is one in and one out when it comes to two high-profile free agents next summer?
There is also tentative speculation of Dayot Upamecano at Bayern Munich. Like his former RB Leipzig and current France team-mate Konate, Upamecano is in the last year of his deal at the Allianz and he is seeing his own future called into question as a result.
"My agent is taking care of it," the player said when quizzed on his own future recently. "We will make the right decision. I am receiving good advice.
"I am focused on this season and my goals with the club and the national team. I don't have the headspace for it.
"I'm completely relaxed. I'm under contract with FC Bayern. I have goals. But I'm very grateful when clubs are interested in me."
Liverpool also have the potential option of recalling Jarell Quansah from Bayer Leverkusen further down the line, having negotiated a buy-back clause into his £35m move to the Bundesliga side in the summer. It's understood the England Under-21 international has also penned a pre-agreed contract, should he return to the Reds.
The development of Giovanni Leoni has, sadly, been forced to grind to a temporary halt after that ACL injury suffered on what was an otherwise assured and exciting debut against Southampton in September's Carabao Cup victory.
But with Konate and Guehi both hurtling towards the end of their respective contracts, Liverpool may well be taking a medium-term view to the centre-back department.
Real Madrid, as has been their modus operandi in the current climate, will look to entice Konate in as a free agent next summer. That prospect will have been tough to take at Anfield just a few months ago but the status of Guehi could soften that blow, if he is to be the direct replacement next year.
Whoever profits most from the merry-go-round of the out-of-contract centre-backs will be fascinating and there will be some big clubs in the queue to do so.
In an ideal world, Liverpool would likely tie Konate down for the coming years while adding some high-quality competition by signing Guehi. But Anfield officials will be forgiven for getting their ducks in a row behind the scenes before their counterparts from Madrid come calling again.