With Arsenal not collapsing, finishing as runners up and finally winning the Premier League title for the 2025/26 campaign, football fans up and down the country are now enjoying the off season and looking forward to what kind of World Cup we will have as games get split between the United States of America, Canada and Mexico.
It is also the time of year where squads slowly begin taking shape and transfer news for the coming 2026/27 season begins to get real and as the week came to an end Liverpool discovered that there was even more drama associated with centre half Ibrahima Konate and what his potential future had in store.
The discussions for the 27 year old, 27 capped French international’s, new contract agreement began in earnest back in 2023, but finding a solution that was agreeable to both parties has proven to be more elusive than Loch Ness.
The long term discussions in the years since still have not come to a suitable end and it has been reported that there is still a gulf between them when it comes to his overall value at Anfield and the wage package that they are prepared to offer him.
Konate even informed fans back after April’s Merseyside derby with Everton that the talks had gone and were advanced, and with both sides happy to commit to the future he felt that a final agreement was now ‘close’ and he felt that there was a ‘big chance’ that he would remain with them for the coming 2026/27 term.
However, not even two months on that has all gone pear-shaped and now as things stand he will not be returning for pre season training as his existing contract expires in June. Given the part that he has played in their first team squad under both Jurgen Klopp and Arne Slot following his £35 million arrival from RB Leipzig on an initial five year contract, allowing it to simply get to this point is quite bizarre.
There will certainly be plenty of Liverpool fans out there who have been left wondering what changed between his last statement, and this news.
If the reports are correct and talks have now ceased with Konate, he would become the third major departure from the Reds this summer and will follow on in the footsteps of Andy Robertson and Mohamed Salah who are already set for pastures new as free agents.
Key players becoming free agents prior to leaving is becoming quite a bit of an issue at Anfield, neutrals will remember Trent Alexander-Arnold from last summer where a fee was only eventually agreed as Real Madrid needed his registration in advance for the Club World Cup. As things stand, captain Virgil van Dijk will soon be back in the headlines as well as his deal comes to an end this time next summer.
Even on a nominal fee front to partially offset future spending on replacements (and Liverpool’s spend was incredibly high last summer) it makes no business sense for players to keep leaving in this manner.
We will have to see whether or not there are any late u-turns here.
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