Ibrahima Konate ‘to leave Liverpool’ after deal agreed
Ibrahima Konate will leave Liverpool when his contract at Anfield expires at the end of the season.
That is according to ex-Everton, Aston Villa, and Aberdeen chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, after Liverpool signed Jeremy Jacquet from Rennes.
Jacquet will move to Liverpool in a deal worth £60million from the start of next season, with the 20-year-old to stay at Rennes for the second half of the campaign.
Liverpool have been planning for Konate’s departure, with no breakthrough in contract talks between the club and the 26-year-old.
Liverpool preparing for ‘change of the guard’
Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – believes Konate will return to form for the remainder of the season amid his search for his next club.
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast, Wyness thinks Liverpool could also source a replacement for Virgil van Dijk in the summer.
He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “I think that, yeah, look, he’s going to be gone. There’s no doubt about it. He will be off, and I think it will be the right thing.
“As I say, you’ll see him play in a very good second part of the season. He will be coming back to the form that had Real Madrid and all the others looking at him, and he’ll start to show up really well. I’ve seen it so many times with players when they come towards the end of that contract. Suddenly, that effort that is now at 110% rather than the 90% that you’ve seen for the start of the season.
“Look, it’s unfortunate, but that’s the way the game works sometimes. I’m just saying it’s human nature that you’re going to start feeling that pressure, and you’re going to start performing better. I’m not saying necessarily premeditated, but certainly it’s something that happens, and it’s a sort of part of that human performance and the human nature that comes into it.
“Yes, I think he’ll be gone. I think it’s very clear. Jacquet is obviously the answer to that solution and it’ll be a change of the guard at the back. Now Virgil van Dijk is going to be the interesting one as well. Will there be a replacement coming in as well? Because there’s no doubt he’s coming to the end of his days as well.”
Liverpool managerial search takes a twist
Manager Arne Slot’s future is also in doubt beyond the end of this season, with supporters increasingly turning against the Dutchman.
Liverpool face a battle to qualify for the Champions League this season, and Slot has been told he needs a top four finish to remain in charge.
Xabi Alonso has been widely tipped to replace Slot, but a new update may mean the Spaniard has his sights set elsewhere.
Alonso is now in the running for the Manchester City job, with Pep Guardiola potentially stepping down at the end of the season.