Ibrahima Konaté is stalling on signing a new deal at Liverpool, raising fears at the club that another key player could run down his contract after this summer’sdeparture of Trent Alexander-Arnold.
The French defender enters the final year of his deal next month and is understood to have rejected Liverpool’s initial offer of an extension.
Konaté’s contract talks were delayed by Liverpool’s focus on negotiating with Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk last season, with bothsigning new two-year dealsin April before re-signing the Dutchman’s defensive partner became the club’s priority. The 26-year-old is understood to be disappointed by the structure of Liverpool’s offer, with his representatives believed to be pushing for a higher basic wage after the offer was heavily based on meeting certain performance targets.
Failure to agree a new contract with Konaté before the end of the summer would leave Liverpool with a dilemma given the furore over Alexander-Arnold’s move to Real Madrid. Although Liverpool eventuallybanked £10m for Alexander-Arnoldbecause of Madrid’s determination to sign him in time to play at the Club World Cup that fee is a fraction of his value.
Andy Robertson is also about to enter the final 12 months of his contract, with Liverpool willing tosell him to Atlético Madridif the left-back wants to leave. The goalkeeperCaoimhín Kelleher joined Brentfordin an £18m deal this month with one year left on his contract.
Liverpool plan to revive discussions with Konaté later in the summer but are adamant they will not be forced into overpaying. After a busy start to the transfer window during which Liverpool have done deals worth a combined £145.5m forFlorian WirtzandJeremie Frimpong, Arne Slot’s central defensive options are the one remaining area of uncertainty.
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Jarell Quansah is on the verge of completing a £35m move to Bayer Leverkusen, and Liverpool are monitoring Marc Guéhi’s situation at Crystal Palace, with Newcastle and Tottenham also interested in the England international. As the Guardian reported, the 24-year-old has made clear hewill not sign a new contractat Selhurst Park, and with 12 months left he is eager to secure a move to a club that can offer guaranteed playing time before next summer’s World Cup.