Ibrahima Konate is set to leave Liverpool for Real Madrid later this month when his contract at Anfield expires, bringing down the curtain on five seasons with the Premier League club. The 27-year-old is expected to complete a free transfer after failing to agree fresh terms with Liverpool.
The move would give Real Madrid another high-profile arrival and reunite Konate with former Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold. It also follows a season in which interest from Madrid appeared to cool after a dip in form, only for the Spanish club to come back in as the contract clock ran out.
For Liverpool, Konate’s exit ends a spell that delivered real silverware. He won the Premier League title, the FA Cup and two League Cups, and for long stretches he looked like one of the most reliable defenders in the squad. Earlier in the season, his name was already being linked with Madrid, but the talk eased when his performances slipped.
That drop in level is the point Frank Leboeuf keeps coming back to. The former France defender said Konate was one of the best defenders in the world a year and a half ago, but added that last season he and Virgil van Dijk were “only shadows” of themselves. Leboeuf, who won the World Cup with France in 1998 and the European Championship two years later, said he has doubts about Konate succeeding at Real Madrid because he is still not quite there.
Leboeuf struck a more sympathetic note as well, saying he watched France against Ivory Coast and felt Konate was still short of his best, which he described as sad for a player he called fantastic. He said the defender has the personality and mentality to belong at the top level, but added that he needs to get back to his best form to make the move work.
Konate is now with the France squad that has travelled to the World Cup in Mexico, Canada and the USA, where France begin their Group I campaign on Tuesday against Senegal at the New York New Jersey Stadium, also known as MetLife Stadium. What comes next for him in Madrid is clear enough: the move is due this month. Whether he arrives as the defender who dominated in Liverpool’s best moments, or as the player Leboeuf says is still chasing that level, is the question that will follow him to Spain.
