Ibrahima Konate “will stay” at Liverpool at the end of the season for one key reason, according to a fresh claim from former scout Mick Brown.
Amid doubts over the future of Virgil van Dijk at Anfield, Reds supporters will also be concerned about losing Konate in the summer transfer window.
Like his centre-back partner, he has also been linked with a summer move to Paris Saint-Germain, which would be a major blow for Arne Slot.
Speaking to Football Insider, Brown said that Konate will remain at Liverpool if Van Dijk moves on, with the club simply not allowing both to leave:
“Let’s imagine they don’t have a problem with Van Dijk. I think they look at Konate and say ‘yeah he’s not bad, he’s done alright, but he’s got a mistake in him’. So if they can better than in the transfer window, then they will do. But they have got a problem with Van Dijk, and with Trent Alexander-Arnold, so they don’t want to lose another centre-back in the middle of all of that.
“The captain’s position is fundamental to what happens with Konate.“If he leaves the club, Konate will stay alongside a new signing because they need that stability. If he stays, I think they’ll look to move Konate on and replace him with a new signing because of those doubts I explained before that they have.
“In an ideal world, they keep Van Dijk and Konate moves on, but the situation is more complicated. They still want Van Djik to sign, of course, but at the moment it’s unclear and that leaves Konate’s position uncertain as well.”
Van Dijk or Konate: Who’s it better for Liverpool to keep?
Van Dijk may be eight years older than Konate, meaning there is an argument to say that the latter is more important for Liverpool to retain, but the Dutchman is still the preferable option to keep.
At 33, he still looks as good as ever, and given his relaxed style of play, there is no reason why he can’t remain at the top level until he is deep into his 30s.
Konate leaving would also be a big setback, however, with Micah Richards lauding him as “tremendous”, and the peak years of his career are still ahead of him. Hopefully, he and Van Dijk are still Liverpool’s first-choice centre-back pairing next season.