Ibrahima Konate’s situation at Liverpool is even more uncertain than it was at the start of the season.
The French defender is out of contract at the end of the season, but with months of poor form, many fans have wondered whether or not it’s time to part ways.
Konate was back to his best against Brighton, but he will need to deliver more than one good performance to guarantee his long-term future at the club, especially if Liverpool sign someone like Marc Guehi.
Although it would appear that the Reds still want to renew his terms, the 26-year-old will agree that his form has not been good enough this season.
Latest on Liverpool contract renewal talks with Ibrahima Konate and his agents
According to TEAMtalk transfer insider Dean Jones, Liverpool still want to tie Konate down to a new deal but also “want to ideally bring in a centre-back to compete with him, rather than replace him.”
“The aim has been to tie him up by the New Year, but I’m not sure they see it as a strict deadline,” Jones reports.
“The objective has been to avoid another Trent Alexander-Arnold scenario that drags on and on, and then he still leaves. The problem Liverpool have is that if Konate leaves, then they’ll actually need two centre-back signings.
“They are already in the market for someone – and that’s not to replace Konate, it’s to have as well as him. So when we look at [Marc] Guehi or [Nico] Schlotterbeck, we are talking about adding competition and depth to the squad. It’s easiest for Liverpool to keep Konate and give him a decent deal than going out and replacing him and having yet another new player to get up to speed.
“Too many new signings is part of the problem in terms of the team gelling so to now lose Konate in January, even when he hasn’t been playing that well, actually would bring about new problems.
“So I don’t think they will try to sell him – I think they will only lose him if they reach a stage where finding an agreement has become impossible.”
