At times, it has felt like the sequel most ignored. A recurring theme at Liverpool FC last season was the three contracts that were ticking down; those of Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Mohamed Salah. A year on, Ibrahima Konate has been in the same situation, while attracting rather less attention. History is set to repeat itself in one respect. If, once again, Liverpool have risked losing an automatic choice on a free transfer, Konate is set to follow in the footsteps of Van Dijk and Salah. He has confirmed he is very close to signing a new deal.
It could seem a successful piece of negotiation by Liverpool. At the least, they have been rewarded for not panicking. The patient, low-profile approach adopted by director of football Richard Hughes has not resulted in each of the big names decamping, even if Salah’s imminent exit, a year after he re-signed, shows his contract extension was not the boon it initially appeared.
Hughes and the returning Michael Edwards inherited the Van Dijk, Salah and Alexander-Arnold issues, coming to the club when they were entering the last 12 months of their respective deals, and prioritising those could have an obvious knock-on effect for others, such as Konate, whose contract was expiring in 2026. Yet Liverpool would benefit from playing fewer games of brinkmanship; while they eventually negotiated a cut-price fee from Alexander-Arnold to allow him to join Real Madrid early and play in the Club World Cup, a club that often talk about their self-sustaining model surely do not want to risk losing assets on a free transfer.
Even when Konate does put pen to paper, Liverpool will be plunged into further uncertainty. Those whose contracts run out next summer include Van Dijk, Joe Gomez, Curtis Jones, Alisson – and Hughes, Edwards and Arne Slot. Talks have begun with their outstanding player this season, Dominick Szoboszlai, who is contracted until 2028, but the Hungarian said on Sunday there has been no real progress. Liverpool talked a lot about the future when spending £450m on largely young players last summer, but much of that future remains shrouded in doubt.
That Liverpool and Konate are extending their alliance feels a pragmatic choice. Perhaps each concluded that, under the circumstances, the other was the best they could do. The Frenchman’s decidedly mixed form and poor first half of the campaign may have deterred potential suitors, such as Real Madrid, who were linked with one of their trademark free transfers. Arguably, he would not get in quite a few of the best teams in world football.
Liverpool, meanwhile, probably could not afford to both lose him and commit a sizeable transfer fee to finding a replacement. They know, too, that at his finest, Konate is a high-class performer. He has had two terrific seasons at Anfield, in 2021-22 and 2024-25; otherwise, though, he can be seen as a high-ceiling, low-floor player. The gap between his best and his worst may be too big; the same could long be said of his teammate Gomez.
Four months ago, at Elland Road and in comments that soon became overshadowed when Salah gave a rare interview, Slot reflected that Konate had been “too much at the crime scene” this season. That can be the centre-back’s lot, but his mistakes were too frequent.
But his commitment has been appreciated. He volunteered to return early from compassionate leave after the death of his father, Hamady, in January, when Liverpool were short of players; as, indeed, they often have been this season.
So part of Konate’s appeal is that he has been available to make 46 appearances. His age helps, too. At 26, he should be entering his peak. If Gomez goes, he will be the bridge between the generations in a centre-back quartet next season. Jeremy Jacquet is joining and Giovanni Leoni will be fit again, but they are now 20 and 19. Van Dijk will turn 35 in July and, logically, cannot be expected to shoulder such a huge workload again.
The temptation is to see Jacquet and Leoni as the long-term double act, but in reality, each is untried. Neither has been a regular for a full season anywhere, and this season has equipped Liverpool with warnings about the time required for new signings and imports to settle.
So even if they realise their potential and Liverpool’s hopes, Konate probably has to help tie the team over for a couple of years. It would also entail showing he can offer leadership as a senior partner; so far, he has always been the junior figure alongside Van Dijk. It might help him, too, if, after the season of the seven right-backs, Liverpool had more continuity of selection and consistency of performance on his other side.
The Frenchman’s troubled season is not all his fault – the same may be said of quite a few others at Anfield – but it may mean his new deal is not greeted with much by the way of celebration. But for Konate and Liverpool alike, it probably makes sense.
