Dailymail: Ibrahima Konate's exit is yet another kick in the teeth for Liverpool

The summer transfer window felt similar to a must-win game for Liverpool after going backwards this season and, by losing Ibrahima Konate before we are even in June, it feels like they have gone a goal down in the first minute.

Like clipping the wing-mirrors on the first corner of a driving test or twisting your ankle in the first mile of a marathon, it is a long way back from here. An uphill struggle awaits. Konate is poised to leave the club on July 1 after negotiations over a new contract broke down, with the two parties some distance apart financially.

One thing the Reds should be commended for is not allowing player power to win and standing firm on their long-standing wage policy. Giving players a pen and chequebook to let them dictate their own numbers is always a way to put squad harmony in jeopardy. But that is probably the only positive Liverpool power-brokers and fans will take in seeing Konate, who played 51 of 57 games this season and won four trophies including being an integral part of the title winners 12 months ago, walk away for nothing.

It comes 12 months after Trent Alexander-Arnold decided against renewing at Anfield in search of his dream but acrimonious move to Real Madrid, where Liverpool banked just £10million for their prized academy graduate - and that was only because Real were desperate to bring the deal forward ahead of the Club World Cup.

Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson are different cases given their ages but losing that pair plus Konate for nothing is a kick in the teeth. The trio have 1,003 Liverpool appearances between them.

Is Konate the best defender in the league? No. Does he have his flaws? Yes. Arne Slot once said, rather damningly, that he was ‘always at the scene’ of the crime when Liverpool conceded goals. But more times than not, the Frenchman was an accomplished defender and a solid partner to Virgil van Dijk, who also was one of his best friends at the club. Calm in possession, a physical unit and not afraid to put his body on the line.

Off the pitch, Konate is a boisterous presence and his voice was always heard booming around the tunnel at Anfield. Always laughing, he must have been great for the dressing room and was earmarked as one to perhaps step up in a leadership sense in the next year or so.

And then he added something that Jurgen Klopp never perhaps saw: reliability. In playing 42 games in 2024-25 and 51 this term, Konate – once injury prone – was one that Slot could call upon every three days when the fixture list is congested.

With respect to the other defenders at the club aside from Van Dijk, none of them have yet proven they can do the same: Joe Gomez is a great character but never consistently fit, while the only other senior centre half, Giovanni Leoni, suffered an ACL injury on his debut against Southampton last September and is still recovering.

Jeremy Jacquet is poised to join from Rennes in a £55million deal that was agreed in January but he too has spent the majority of the year on the treatment table. In both his and Leoni’s cases, the injuries were one-offs rather than part of a theme.

Liverpool have a genuine belief they have recruited the best young defender in both France and Italy. Leoni, at 6ft 5in, is a man mountain at just 19 while Jacquet is a gem who had some of Europe’s top clubs, including Chelsea and Bayern Munich, chasing his signature. Still, it leaves Liverpool’s defensive options rather light in a summer where vast financial resources must be spent on recruiting at least one forward to replace Salah.

How costly it looks now when we recall the events of deadline day, summer 2025: Marc Guehi was having a medical for Liverpool with the fee and contract agreed, when Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish pulled the plug.

Guehi beat Liverpool five times this term – in the Community Shield, Carabao Cup and Premier League for the Eagles, then in the league and FA Cup for new club Manchester City. Had they not stalled over a deal for the England international, Konate’s exit might not feel so significant.

How did we get here? Negotiations over an extension date back to the start of Jurgen Klopp’s final season and talks were brought into focus a year later in October 2024 when Jarell Quansah was also handed a new contract. The England international then left at the end of that season to join Bayer Leverkusen.

When allowing Quansah to depart, Liverpool pre-agreed a contract with the Warrington-born defender and have a buy-back clause should he ever return. England manager Thomas Tuchel is a huge fan but it always felt like Slot never fancied him.

The talks between Konate and Liverpool were maybe not top of the priority list for the majority of 2024-25 while Salah, Van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold were all on expiring contracts.

They were thrust more into focus this year and, despite a hold-up, appeared to be heading towards a positive conclusion. Only five weeks ago, Konate told reporters that he was close to staying and an extension was near.

Club sources insisted at the time that it was maybe not as close as Konate made out, though it still felt like he would end up renewing. As soon as this week, the situation was said to be ongoing and a new deal felt more likely than not.

Konate, clearly, wanted more money than Liverpool could stomach. It was similar last summer when Luis Diaz and the club could not find common ground on a new contract and the Colombian was sold to Bayern Munich.

Liverpool came to regret that when Diaz flourished in Bavaria and they struggled for goalscorers as Salah’s form dipped. Bayern are one side trailing Konate. Sources close to Chelsea have played down reports that they are keen.

Real Madrid have kept an eye on his situation and Paris Saint-Germain might be tempted to move for the 27-year-old, who was born in the French capital. Given he is available for nothing, many other teams are on red alert.

Van Dijk must feel like he is holding together a sinking ship as players leave left, right and centre. He is understandably upset at the situation and it might explain why he sat on the Anfield turf, alone, for 15 minutes on Sunday staring into the middle distance with a tearful eye.

Long-serving goalkeeper Alisson is facing intense interest from Juventus, who have put a contract proposal on the table with his entourage. Liverpool simply must not let the Brazil No 1 follow Konate, Salah and Robertson out the door.

With a year remaining on his deal, Alisson must be persuaded to stay, otherwise the Reds risk losing too much experience in one go. Curtis Jones is another who could depart, with Inter Milan hot on the tail of the £35million-rated midfielder.

After a £446m mega-money outlay last summer, it feels like Liverpool have a lengthy shopping list again this summer. At least one forward, a midfielder and now a defender.

None of those will come cheap and Konate’s exit leaves Slot with an awful lot to get right in the transfer window after a dismal season.