Liverpool have begun negotiations with Ibrahima Konate over a new contract, with the defender's current deal set to expire at the end of the season. According to multiple reports, the 25-year-old will be free to join any club on July 1 if no agreement is reached. Liverpool first approached Konate's representatives in autumn 2024 to discuss an extension, sources said.
The two parties have been apart in their demands during negotiations, sources said. Manager Arne Slot has publicly stated the club's desire to keep Konate, a departure from his approach with Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk last year, when he did not discuss their futures until new deals were close. Slot said in a press conference that the club is in talks with Konate and wants him to stay, adding that negotiations are ongoing and they would not be in talks if they did not want him to remain.
We are in talks with him so that tells you what we want. It’s clear we would like him to stay but negotiations are ongoing so let’s see where that ends. We wouldn’t be in negotiations if we didn’t want him to stay.
Real Madrid had posted an interest in Konate earlier in the season but that seems to have cooled, according to reports. In a separate gesture, Konate gave a journalist his match-worn shirt as a token of gratitude for dates after a match at Nottingham Forest. The specific demands of both sides remain unclear, as does Konate's preference for his next destination. It is also uncertain whether Real Madrid or other clubs will make a formal offer, and the timeline for a resolution has not been disclosed.