Surprise report is the Real Madrid hint Liverpool NEEDED

A fantastic hint at what's to come has emerged in a surprise report. Liverpool want Ibrahima Konate to stay.

There’s no question that Liverpool want Ibrahima Konate to remain at Anfield beyond this season. They just don’t really have that in their own hands.

Konate’s contract will expire at the end of the season and he’ll be free to move wherever he wants. In fact, he can negotiate with non-English clubs in just a few months.

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The Reds have been in talks with their defender, of course, but Konate has other suitors. Paris Saint-Germain would happily bring him home, while Real Madrid lead the charge.

Los Blancos are the club most strongly linked with a move for Konate. Things have followed the same pattern, too.

Report after report after report has come out of Spain pushing the idea of Konate joining Real Madrid for free. It’s exactly what we saw with Trent Alexander-Arnold a year ago - a full-on PR campaign that piles pressure on everyone involved.

Only, a new report suggests something has changed.

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Ibrahima Konate to stay?

After an entire summer of ‘Real Madrid want Konate’, AS have surprisingly put out a claim that he’s not their main target. They’re now claiming that William Saliba is the dream signing - Konate is just on their list.

Now, they’re still certainly claiming that Real Madrid want to sign Konate. But this is a massive climb down from the position pushed all summer.

The suggestion here is that a move may or may not happen. A few weeks ago it was pushed as all-but certain.

That’s usually a sign that things aren’t going Real Madrid’s way. The sudden change in PR now puts pressure on Arsenal and Saliba, taking it off Konate.

Why would that happen? We’d think it meant Liverpool have made some decent progress in talks, making a move to Real Madrid a lot less likely than it was a few weeks ago.

We’re just speculating there but this Saliba report is a surprise and one that must have an explanation somewhere. What we do feel confident saying, though, is that it’s great news for Liverpool and Konate staying at the club beyond this season feels a lot more likely.

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