Earlier this month, Reds legend and pundit Jamie Carragher claimed that while he would love to see Konate stay back and continue at Anfield, if he leaves for Madrid next summer, the Merseyside club won't miss the centre-back much.
Carragher told the Daily Mail: "I’d like him [Konate] to stay but if he doesn’t stay, Liverpool will sign someone else. Liverpool won’t fall apart if Konate leaves. He's not Virgil van Dijk. He's a good centre-back who you hope will sign, but if he doesn’t want to sign, Liverpool will be absolutely fine. He's a very good centre-back, he's a title winner at Liverpool, he's played in the Champions League final against Real Madrid. He's obviously a quality centre-back. It's not poor management [if he goes for free]. You can't physically make somebody sign a contract. Then it's your decision, do you keep him to the length of his contract or do you sell him?"