Liverpool take first step to replace Ibrahima Konate with insanely fast centre-back

Ibrahima Konate could leave the club at the end of the season, and Liverpool have taken their first step to replace him.

It's a very precarious situation that Richard Hughes has entered. Right now, Liverpool look like they are in desperate need of refreshing their centre-back options.

Konate's contract expires at the end of the season, and he's free to join another club. Virgil van Dijk is not getting any younger. Joe Gomez looks like he's on the cusp of leaving.

Which leaves just Giovanni Leoni as Liverpool's only long-term option. And who knows how long it will take for him to get back to the levels he showed against Southampton.

Liverpool desperately need to add depth to the department. They also need to build for the future and find replacements for their soon to be departing stars.

Among the biggest issues for Hughes to fix is to first and foremost find a partner for Van Dijk and then a back-up option in the RCB role.

Konate will have to be replaced if he decides to leave the club and it looks like Liverpool are now taking their first steps towards finding the ideal replacement.

Anfield Watch understands that the club had scouts at Nordsjaelland's encounter with FC Midtjylland last week in the Danish Superliga.

Liverpool had their eyes on several players. Among them Anfield Watch understands, was Ousmane Diao.

The club's scouting delegation flew out to assess the 21-year-old defender in action.

They won't have been disappointed. Diao scored, helped his side to a clean sheet and a 6-0 victory in what was pretty much the perfect performance.

At 21-years-old he represents the perfect profile. Despite his young age, Diao already have over 100 senior appearances under his belt. He's played over 50 games for Midtjylland and has proved to be a threat from set-pieces scoring 10 goals during his time with the club so far.

On the ball, he's a composed defender. He can hit it long and make cross-field switches that help progress his side quickly into advantageous positions. His accuracy when finding teammates with long passes is also very good.

Undoubtedly, his biggest strength is his speed. Diao is insanely fast, and he's very quick at surrounding his attacker to completely swallow up their space.

He's strong in his duels, sticks tight to his opponents and is very good at taking the ball from them using his upper body strength and his long legs to pry the ball away from their feet.

At 21-years-old, he's not the finished article, but there's so much to like about him.

He can and has also played as a right-back. He can play as a defender in a back four and in a back three as well. His best position is definitely the RCB role, where he covers a lot of ground and defends the channels really well.

He could improve his aerial duels. Sometimes he doesn't quite win as much as he should.

But overall, he has exciting potential. His speed makes him an ideal candidate for the Premier League and an ideal replacement for Konate. In fact he could even be a replacement for Gomez because of his ability to play in the right-back role.

The fact that Liverpool are now watching him live would suggest the club are taking steps to make a move for him and seriously considering him as a potential option.

Which is why he's a name to keep a close eye on.

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