Liverpool are close to completing their first summer signing in Ibrahima Konate, with various journalists close to the club, including Paul Joyce, reporting that the move is expected to come to fruition within the “next 48 hours”.
The club has been forced to navigate a difficult season without it’s first-choice centre-halves in Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez.
Liverpool expect to complete the transfer of Ibrahima Konate in next 48-hours. Agreements with player on personal terms and also RB Leipzig now in place. Exit clause value is £36m.
— paul joyce (@_pauljoyce) May 28, 2021
Ibrahima Konate is expected to become a Liverpool player in the next 48 hours. Liverpool have triggered his £36m release clause with RB Leipzig, he has agreed personal terms and will now complete the formalities on the deal before an official announcement 🔴
— Dominic King (@DominicKing_DM) May 28, 2021
Liverpool expect to complete the £36 million signing of RB Leipzig centre-half Ibrahima Konate in the next 48 hours after agreeing personal terms with the player and his representatives.
— Chris Bascombe (@_ChrisBascombe) May 28, 2021
That’s not to forget how further injuries to the likes of Fabinho, Joel Matip, and Jordan Henderson forcing Jurgen Klopp to rely on a varied pairing in Nathaniel Phillips, Ozan Kabak, and Rhys Williams.
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Buying strongly in the defensive department, particularly for the centre-back spot, certainly makes a great deal of sense in the context of our injury-hit campaign.
With the Frenchman being only 22-years-old, and regarded as one of the brightest prospects in European football in his position, we could very well have sorted the future of our defence for the next decade.
It’s a move that does, however, appear to spell the end of Ozan Kabak’s Liverpool future, with us reportedly being set to send the Turk packing back home to parent club Schalke.
Whether an additional defender beyond the RB Leipzig star is necessary will remain up for debate, however, we can rest assured in the knowledge that we’ll be gaining a quality centre-half to compliment a number of world-class options at our disposal.
He is the quickest player at RB Leipzig and over 100m quicker than Timo Werner.