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Ibrahima Konate and his contract situation at Liverpool is a worrying development that has quietly become quite a tense situation.

Konate is set to enter the final year of his Liverpool contract in July 2025, intensifying a stand-off over a new deal that could determine whether the French centre-back remains at Anfield or is sold this summer to avoid a free transfer situation.

The club is keen to avoid allowing him to sign a pre-contract agreement with foreign clubs from January 2026, which European giants Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain are reportedly eyeing for a free transfer.

The current standoff has sparked unwelcome comparisons to the Alexander-Arnold saga, as Liverpool are eager to prevent another star player from walking away on a free transfer.

Talks, which started in October 2024, have moved at a sluggish pace, with a notable difference still separating the club’s proposal and what the player is seeking.

Konate who is 25, currently earns £80,000 per week under the five-year contract he signed when joining from RB Leipzig in 2021.

It is reported that he is now aiming for a substantial pay rise to approximately £200,000 per week—a 150% increase that would elevate him into the ranks of Liverpool’s highest earners.

And according to the latest update from the Guardian, the stand-off may continue for a while longer.

Journalist Matt Hughes has reported that there is still no progress over a deal, and that the hold-up over the contract is that the Frenchman wants a higher basic wage while the Anfield club stance is that wages will be dependent on achievements:

“Ibrahima Konaté is stalling on signing a new deal at Liverpool,” the Guardian reports

“The French defender enters the final year of his deal next month and is understood to have rejected Liverpool’s initial offer of an extension.”

“The 26-year-old is understood to be disappointed by the structure of Liverpool’s offer, with his representatives believed to be pushing for a higher basic wage after the offer was heavily based on meeting certain performance targets.”

Since arriving from RB Leipzig in 2022 on a long-term contract, Konate has grown into a defensive linchpin alongside Virgil van Dijk, making a career-high 42 appearances in 2024/25 and proving his fitness reliability – which he has sometimes been critcised for.

Meanwhile, the player’s closing social media post on the 2024/25 season certainly did not sound like somebody in a hurry to leave Anfield.

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