Ibrahima Konate’s future at Liverpool is in doubt and the longer his contract renewal takes, the more fans begin to worry he will be sold or leave for free next summer.
Recently, Premier League legend Arsene Wenger shared his concerns over the direction football transfers at the top level are heading.
He noted how the likes of Real Madrid are pressuring top players in the final years of their contracts to run their terms down to join Madrid for free as Trent Alexander-Arnold is now infamously known for.
Wenger said: “So what do the big clubs do? They say two years before the end of a contract we want to buy you, we give you these wages and we will try to make an offer to the club.
“If it doesn’t work, we come back next year and if it doesn’t work then, we will take you for free. That is what they [Real Madrid ] did with [Kylian] Mbappe as well.”
A report at the time from Marca shared how Madrid are hoping to repeat their Trent trick with either William Saliba or Konate.
L’Equipe reports this week that Liverpool have made it their priority to sign Konate to fresh terms otherwise they risk him entering the final year of his contract.
They report: “Liverpool’s management, now that they have signed extensions for Mohamed Salah and Virgil Van Dijk, have made Konaté’s case a priority.”
Could Konate move to Real Madrid?
Now, according to former Manchester United and Blackburn chief scoutMick Brown, Konate is coming up in conversations involving Real Madrid.
Brown told Football Insider: “Konate is a name I’ve seen in connection with Real Madrid. They’ve got a list of targets because it’s a position they still want to strengthen in, but it will depend on what they think they need from their center-halves.
“They want a top-class option, so of course, they’ll be looking in the Premier League. Madrid want to dominate their domestic games, and Konate could help them do that.
“The issue I’ve got about him is he has made the odd mistakes during his time at Liverpool. If you’re dominating games you can get away with that more often, it’s not as big of an issue, but if it’s a tight game you can’t afford that.
“After signing Huijsen, they want somebody with a bit more experience to come in alongside him. Their injured players will come back, but they want to strengthen as well, so I expect they’ll be pushing ahead with new signings and Konate could well be one of them.”