Sudden late contender as Ibrahima Konate race heats up

Ibrahima Konate’s contract expires at the end of the season. A surprise contender will make life difficult for Liverpool.

Will Ibou Konate be a Liverpool player next season? It feels impossible to answer, really.

His contract will expire at the end of June but the closer we get, the more uncertain things feel. On the one hand, getting close to the expiry date without a clear alternative club suggests he'll re-sign.

On the other hand, why hasn't he re-signed? That suggests there's a real stumbling block here.

What we know for sure is that the longer Konate remains without a new deal, the more time there is for rival clubs to pop up and sway his gaze. It's starting to sound as though that might happen shortly, with a new contender in the centre-back market chasing his profile.

Barcelona chase a centre-back

Sport has outlined Barcelona's need for a centre-back. They're after something relatively specific, however - a centre-back with plenty of pace to play in a high line.

Well, there happens to be one very adept at that coming to the end of his contract this summer. Konate has pace and he's got a wealth of experience in that kind of system.

Under two managers, no less.

Konate is also a title-winning centre-back and one who has been a Champions League finalist. All in all, it would be shocking if Barcelona didn't try to grab the Frenchman this summer.

And so it's probably time for Liverpool to hurry things up. The Reds simply need to know whether to go all-out on Konate and renew him as the future leader of their defence or to look elsewhere.

We know they wanted Marc Guehi but he's now off the table. Dayot Upamecano is renewing with Bayern Munich, too. Options are becoming limited and as that happens, both Liverpool and Barcelona will eventually feel that Konate is ultimately the one for them.

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