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Chelsea have reportedly entered the race to sign Ibrahima Konate from Liverpool. The Blues have tabled a £43 million bid for the Frenchman, who is also wanted by Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).
According to a report in Defensa Central, Chelsea want to bring in a defender following the injury to Levi Colwill. The Englishman has undergone surgery following his ACL injury and is out for the rest of 2025.
Enzo Maresca's side are now looking to sign a replacement and see Konate as an ideal candidate. The 26-year-old Liverpool star is in the final year of his contract and has not signed a new deal at the club.
Real Madrid have been in talks to sign Konate this summer, but are yet to make an official bid. Reports suggested that the Spanish giants made a take-it-or-leave-it bid of €25 million for the defender, but the Reds were sticking to their asking price of €50 million.
The Spanish publication's report now suggests that Chelsea have matched the asking price. However, Liverpool are unwilling to sell to a Premier League rival and are pushing for a contract extension.
Chelsea target Ibrahima Konate spoke about Liverpool contract earlier this year
Ibrahima Konate spoke to the media on the final day of the Premier League season in May and confirmed that he has not signed a new deal at Liverpool. The Chelsea target added that he was never close to penning a deal, as the negotiations were still ongoing. He said (via The Athletic):
"You know, I just want to say one thing: everything you saw on social media is completely fake. 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 that I am very close to signing the deal. I was like: 'Ah, they have more information than me?!'. It was not true at that moment, and that is why I was a little bit mad because it was not true at that 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."
The Guardian offered an update in June, revealing that the Chelsea target was disappointed with the latest offer from Liverpool. Konate will start the Premier League season at Anfield and is expected to be in the squad when the defending champions face AFC Bournemouth on Friday, August 15.
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Sripad is a veteran Sportskeeda football journalist who has been with the company for around 10 years. His tryst with writing happened in class XI when he started penning blogs, and his foray into football was during the early 2000s, watching matches with his cousins.
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If given a chance to change a football rule, Sripad wants VAR to be fully automated and offside rules to be less stringent. When not working, he likes to watch past Formula 1 races and play FIFA.
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