Ibrahima Konaté had a very poor season but Liverpool have in past years seen the heights the French international can hit, heights that had him being targeted by Real Madrid before Liverpool’s unpleasant and underwhelming 2025-26 kicked off.
Now, they appear set to see the 27-year-old depart the club on a free transfer. Despite rumours in the spring suggesting a new contract was belatedly in the works and the player himself saying he believed it would get done it now appears the two sides could not
reach an agreement.
It perhaps shouldn’t be entirely surprising, and once the season ended last weekend with Konaté still on his contract that’s set to expire on June 30th it was probably always likliest that he would depart.
It’s the latest situation that will leave fans asking questions as to whether Ricahrd Hughes is fit for his role, with the Liverpool sporting director overseeing last summer’s big spending summer that somehow left the Reds with less squad depth and a more unbalanced squad than they started with.
Hughes along with head coach Arne Slot were given a squad by the departing Jürgen Klopp that was good enough to win the Premier League in their first season guiding the club, a side that everyone agreed was well set-up for long term success with only minor tweaks.
Now, it appears a side in need of a complete overhaul. The departure of a prime age centre half on a free transfer, a centre half with Premier League experience who was being targeted by Real Madrid just 12 months ago, won’t help the situation on that even if Konaté clearly had an off year.
Given Liverpool ended the 2025-26 season lethargically and with Arne Slot side still not having found anything resembling tactical identity, nobody will be surprised if Konaté‘s form miraculously rebounds at whatever club he ends up at next season.
At least nobody beyond those tasked with guiding Liverpool, given the decline in press efficiency, passing and patterns of play, defensive structure, and fitness that have been seen over the past 18 months that have somehow not yet resulted in either of Slot or Hughes losing their jobs.
