Ibrahima Konate is set to leave LFC on a free transfer when his contract expires in June, ending long-running talks over a new deal without a breakthrough. The centre-half, who joined from RB Leipzig in 2021 for £35m, now looks likely to move on after negotiations over his renewal stalled.
The timing matters because Liverpool are already bracing for another summer of exits on free transfers, with Andy Robertson and Mohamed Salah also due to depart unless fresh deals are struck. Trent Alexander-Arnold left last year in a separate move to Real Madrid after the Spanish club paid a fee to release him early so he could play in the Club World Cup, underlining how expensive it can be when contracts run down.
Konate had given Liverpool reason to hope he would stay. After April's Merseyside derby, he told reporters he was “close to an agreement” and said there was a “big chance” he would remain at Anfield next season. But discussions that began in November 2023 later stopped without a resolution, with the two sides understood to have been apart on his value and wages.
Liverpool still believe they have enough depth at centre-half, but the numbers are thin. Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez are their only experienced central defenders, while Giovanni Leoni was recruited last summer from Parma for £26m plus add-ons and has since been ruled out for a year after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in September. Jeremy Jacquet, signed for £60m this summer, played 21 games for Rennes last season but has missed the last four months with a shoulder injury.
The club’s recent transfer business suggests other priorities are pressing as well, including replacing Salah and covering the gap left by Hugo Ekitike's long-term injury. Liverpool also missed out on Marc Guehi on deadline day last September, and then watched him join Manchester City in January, leaving them with less room to maneuver if they decide to revisit the centre-half market before June.
For Konate, the path now points away from Anfield unless there is a late change before his deal runs out. Liverpool have let big names leave without a fee before, from Roberto Firmino in 2023 to Georginio Wijnaldum in 2021, but losing a senior defender at the end of the season would still be a hard one to absorb.
