Ibrahima Konate’s next football match will be as a Liverpool player, after France U21 were knocked out of the Euros on Monday.
The Dutch beat them 2-1, but Konate’s individual performance was impressive – and he actually looked a level above the other players on the field – largely because of his immense physicality.
We also very much enjoyed this pass, seen in the video below, which shows the 22-year-old’s vision.
Konate plays a forward pass, first-time right down the channel, with Ikone can run on to.
It’s not a lump forward, but a perfectly executed through-pass. We already know about Virgil van Dijk’s distribution from the left-sided centre-back role, so having another defender capable of starting attacks from deep will be massively beneficial, as that’s not really in the armoury of Nat Phillips or Rhys Williams.