Liverpool starter makes honest transfer admission: ‘To say no would be to lie’

Joe Williams
Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate
Ibrahima Konate during a Premier League match

Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate has admitted that he’s thought about a transfer to Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain before.

The Reds signed the France international from RB Leipzig in the summer of 2021 for around £36m after his impressive performances for the Bundesliga outfit.

Konate has had a slow start to life at Anfield with the Liverpool defender in and out of the team under Jurgen Klopp.

The 24-year-old has started eight matches in all competitions this term, as well as five in the Premier League, as there are signs he is now Klopp’s preferred option to start alongside Virgil van Dijk.

He lost his place in Liverpool’s starting line-up to Joel Matip when he missed two matches earlier in the season but he has now regained his place under Klopp.

The Paris-born defender is contracted to Liverpool until the summer of 2026 and came through the Paris FC academy before making the move to Sochaux, who sold him to Leipzig in 2017.

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And, in a chat with Canal Football Club, Konate has opened the door to joining another Paris-based club, Paris Saint-Germain, in the futur.

Konate said: “PSG today, they recruited players who get along well and who play in the national team. For Parisian fans, it makes them happy because they have their own Parisians in their team. This is what they have been wanting for years. If I see myself at PSG? But no, to say no would be to lie to you.”

However, Konate added: “But to tell you that I’m thinking of it [moving to PSG] as a goal at the moment, not at all.”

Not everyone has been impressed by Konate’s performances since he arrived at Liverpool with former Scotland international Craig Burley critical of his decision-making.

ESPN pundit Burley said in October: “Konate and Matip, at times – particularly Matip, who has been there longer – have had some really good spells but I think they are now both inconsistent in their decisions.

“If you look at [Virgil] Van Dijk’s partner and you look at the other big challengers, I don’t think Konate or Matip get into any of those other teams at centre-back.

“Maybe you can take Tottenham out of the occasion with [Micky] Van de Ven and [Cristian] Romero. But if you look at Arsenal, you aren’t changing Matip and Konate for Gabriel or [William] Saliba. You’re not changing at Man City.”

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