Talks between Liverpool and Ibrahima Konate over a new contract have progressed in recent weeks, as the club aims to avoid a repeat of this summer's Trent Alexander-Arnold situation.
Alexander-Arnold officially became a Real Madrid player on Sunday, after the club had no choice but to allow him to leave as his contract with the Reds wound down.
Liverpool is understood to have received a fee of around $11 million from Madrid for Alexander-Arnold, but that is purely because of the timing of this summer's Club World Cup.
In any other summer, Alexander-Arnold would have left for free, and that is a scenario that the Reds are facing with Konate in 2026 unless they manage to tie him down to a new contract.
Thankfully, the Liverpool Echo reports that progress has been made in talks between the two parties, with the report coming after Konate addressed speculation over his future last week.
"You know, I just want to say one thing: Everything you saw on social media is completely fake," Konate said. "I didn't even ask for something from the club. They made me an offer, and I replied to them with something, that is it.
"The rest (speculation) that I want to wait until the end... I want this, all of it is completely fake. And even the big journalists said in November I am very close to signing the deal. I was like: 'Ah, they have more information than me!?'
"Because it was not true at that moment and that is why I was a little bit mad because it was not true at this moment. I knew at one moment people would think I didn't want to sign the contract but I was never close to signing it. We will see what will happen."
Konate joined Liverpool in 2021 (Image: 2025 Getty Images)
Konate confirmed earlier this season that he had been offered fresh terms to renew his deal at Liverpool but would not be drawn on whether he intended to stay. "It’s true, I’ve been offered a new contract by Liverpool,” Konate said during a press conference in January. "Am I close to signing it? That’s another conversation."
Konate is still on the £80,000 ($106,000) a week salary that he signed upon joining Liverpool in 2021, and it had been reported that he was demanding £200,000 ($265,000) a week in order to pen a renewal.
Real Madrid has made a habit of signing top players on free transfers, with Alexander-Arnold just the latest player to run his contract down before agreeing to move to the Bernabeu. Kylian Mbappe, Antonio Rudiger and David Alaba have all done the same thing over the last five years.
The Spanish giant has been linked with Konate too as it looks to lock down the center of its defense for years to come, with William Saliba, whose Arsenal contract is due to expire in 2027, also being targeted.