Stan Collymore thinks Liverpool should sell Ibrahima Konate this summer if he won’t sign a new contract
Liverpool have been urged to sell Ibrahima Konate this summer if he doesn’t want to sign a new contract. That’s the opinion of former club-record signing Stan Collymore, who insists there are better defenders out there.
Konate has established himself as Virgil van Dijk’s first-choice centre-back partner since joining the Reds from RB Leipzig in the summer of 2021. However, his future remains the subject of speculation and scrutiny amid reported interest from both Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain.
The 26-year-old is about to enter the final year of his Liverpool contract and would be free to discuss a pre-contract agreement with overseas clubs from January 1.
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Konate admitted back in January that he had been offered a new contract by the club while he revealed at the end of the season that his agent had again sat down with Reds bosses to discuss an extension.
However, the France international has yet to reach an agreement with the club, with the Guardian claiming earlier this week that he was disappointed by the structure of Liverpool’s offer.
And Collymore has urged the Reds to move Konate on if he is not going to sign a new contract, insisting he is not as important as the likes of Van Dijk and Mohamed Salah – who both signed extensions after lengthy contract sagas during the final months of their expiring deals back in April.
“Ibrahima Konate is not what Virgil van Dijk or Mohamed Salah are to Liverpool in terms of importance,” Collymore wrote in his CaughtOffside column. “If they were to lose him, it would pinch a little bit. But that’s all it would do.
“I think there are better defenders around the world that Liverpool could unearth and will unearth.
“And if Konate doesn’t want to sign and commit to what is a very healthy Liverpool wage structure, then let him go.”
The Reds are already set to be on the lookout for a new centre-back this summer after sanctioning Jarell Quansah’s £35m exit to Bayer Leverkusen.
They are understood to be prioritising a younger defender with high potential, though Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi is also a player of interest as he enters the final year of his own contract.
Collymore thinks Guehi would be a good signing. But he suggests that Liverpool should consider moving for one of his England team-mates.
“Would Guehi be a like-for-like replacement (for Konate)? No,” he said. “But the beauty with Guehi is that he comes in and he is a versatile option across the defence.
“And he’s also very much a player that is a very good club man. He’s going to be a solid 7/10 and play plenty of games all through the season.
“But I am surprised that a team like Liverpool aren’t looking at Ezri Konsa in this situation, given Aston Villa’s PSR woes.”
