Liverpool ‘agree personal terms’ with Ibrahima Konate as RB Leipzig transfer nears
Transfer news: Who could be on the move this summer?
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Liverpool have reportedly agreed terms with Ibrahima Konate and the RB Leipzig defender is set to join the club on a five-year contract this summer. The 21-year-old French defender will move to Anfield at the end of the season after Liverpool paid the £30million (€35m) release clause in his Leipzig contract.
Konate has been on Liverpool’s radar for some months, having emerged as the club’s primary target in central defence.
The Reds signed Ozan Kabak from Schalke and Ben Davies from Preston in January to plug the gaps in their defence caused by injuries.
Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip have all been sidelined this season with serious injuries, leaving Jurgen Klopp’s side short at the back.
Liverpool were interested in RB Leipzig’s Dayot Upamecano, but moved on to his team-mate Konate once Upamecano’s £37m summer move to Bayern Munich was confirmed in February.
It has long been considered a matter of time until Liverpool confirmed the deal for Konate and journalist Fabrizio Romano now says the deal will be made official soon.
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“It is really, really close. it is just a matter of time,” Romano said on talkSPORT.
“The agreement with the player is done. They want to sign the player. It is just a case of the clubs negotiating.
“The player wants to go. It is a five-year contract. In some weeks, it will be complete.”
Konate is a France Under-21 international and has made 94 appearances for Leipzig in all competitions since arriving at the club from Sochaux in 2017.
He has made 20 appearances in all competitions this season, regularly playing alongside his countryman Upamecano.
Back in March, he admitted that the speculation over his move to Liverpool had affected him.
“I woke up, I saw my phone ringing all over the place,” he told L’Equipe while on international duty with France U21s.
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“I just wanted to tell them: ‘Hey, I played yesterday, I’m tired, leave me alone.’
“Frankly, I don’t even watch this [speculation]. We can’t focus on that, there are the Euros and then my return to the club. You have to focus on that and not on the external things.”
Konate might not be Liverpool’s only transfer in central defence this summer, with the club considering making Kabak’s loan deal permanent.
The Turkish international is available for £18m and has impressed enough since his arrival from Schalke in January for the Reds to make his move permanent.
Davies is yet to make a single appearance for Liverpool following his £1.6m move from Championship side Preston in January.
The 25-year-old centre-back signed a long-term contract with the club but has been behind Kabak, Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams in the pecking order.
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