Everything is pointing towards Ibrahima Konate departing on a free transfer at the end of his contract next summer.
The French international’s contract talks with Liverpool have yet to yield any significant breakthrough to suggest an alternative outcome.
The 26-year-old defender started in France’s 2-0 World Cup qualifier win against Ukraine last Friday.
Is Ibrahima Konate going to leave Liverpool?
Reliable reporting from The Times’ Paul Joyce has already confirmed that talks with Konate ‘remain at an impasse’.
You can certainly forgive the inevitable eye-rolling that will be cascading across the red half of Merseyside, given the centre-back’s position is believed to be tied to interest from perennial poachers Real Madrid.
Now, journalist Nicolo Schira reports on X (formerly Twitter) that the Frenchman is indeed ready to depart in 2026.
Further to the point, he’s alleged to have passed up on a ‘huge bid’ from the Saudi Pro League in favour of the long-term contract on the table from the La Liga giants.
🚨 Excl. – Ibrahima #Konatè’s Plans are clear: he is ready to leave #Liverpool as a free agent at the end of the sesson. He has already turned down a huge bid from a Saudi Club. #RealMadrid are in talks to try to sign him from July: offered a contract until 2031. #transfers #LFC https://t.co/BWTYqy8Qar
— Nicolò Schira (@NicoSchira) September 9, 2025
Could Konate join Real Madrid in January?
Sources close to the agents’ industry have informed Empire of the Kop that Liverpool are prepared to consider offers for Ibrahima Konate in January.
That would, of course, be in the event of the Frenchman still stalling on signing a contract extension at Anfield.
We would speculate that the club will more than likely be inclined to secure an incoming, should our No.5 be given the all-clear to seek pastures new in the winter window.
Who exactly that option is, however, remains unclear, given that prior reporting from Paul Joyce has also indicated that Liverpool won’t test Crystal Palace’s resolve for Marc Guehi in January.
Of course, that position may very well be a flexible one depending on the Eagles’ willingness to retrieve some value from their own expiring star.
Either way, it would be the height of insanity for Arne Slot’s men to reduce their senior options at centre-back to three – Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez, and Giovanni Leoni – without an appropriate signing.
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If Konate goes then it must be conditional upon us signing Marc Guehi.
If Konate doesn’t want to sign a new contract there is nothing we can do about it. Have you learned nothing from the TAA situation.?
The only recourse that we have is to sign a replacement be it Guehi or someone else.
The LFC powers that be obviously didn’t learn the lesson that RM handed out at the end of last season. They are masters of tapping up rivals players and getting away with it .