As Liverpool struggled through a dire autumn that saw the collapse of their Premier League title defence hopes, one of the players whose personal form was often highlighted for having fallen off most from the season before was that of centre half Ibrahima Konaté.
Complicating matters was that the 26-year-old French international was on an expiring contract and there were many who believed it a foregone conclusion he would join Real Madrid on a free transfer in 2026—just as fellow Red Trent Alexander-Arnold
had in 2025.
Whether or not his poor form in the autumn played a role, those links have largely disappeared in recent months, and now along with Konaté’s form ticking up in the new year, there even some renewed chatter that a Liverpool extension might not be a genuine possibility.
While The Athletic’s James Pearce outlines this week that the club haven’t given up hope Konaté will re-up, clu captain and teammate Virgil van Dijk has come out in the wake of Wednesday’s 1-0 victory over Sunderland to publicly encourage Konaté to do just that.
“We speak about everything and it’s a process,” Van Dijk said following the match. “It’s never that easy that we can just say get it done, it’s a process and we’ll see what comes out of it. But obviously I want him to stay, he’s an important figure on the pitch and off as well.
“He’s one of the leaders, he’s outstanding and in my eyes aworld-class centre-back, but I can do only so much. It’s in the club’s hands together with his agent and himself so let’s see what comes out of it.”
