Ibrahima Konate's Liverpool future takes new twist with agreement 'closer than ever'

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Liverpool's Ibrahima Konate wants his future ironed out before the World Cup and it looks increasingly likely he will remain at Anfield.

The Frenchman's future has been a major talking point throughout the season and post-January he's been free to secure a deal with an overseas club. Up to now, Konate's home for next season remains unclear despite Liverpool's desire to keep hold of him.

Konate has been at Anfield since he was signed by Jurgen Klopp back in 2021 and doesn't want noise surrounding his future to continue into the World Cup this summer. Les Blues, who are among the favourites, begin their tournament against Senegal on June 16.

L'Equipe reports that, despite there being genuine interest from Spain, the most likely conclusion to the saga is that the centre-half does choose to remain at Liverpool . Konate has been Virgil van Dijk's most common partner at the heart of the team's defence.

It adds that the club and Konate have 'never been closer to striking an agreement' with talks continuing after their initial offer was understood to be lower than the player wanted.

Since Arne Slot arrived Liverpool have been active in their desire to add more centre-halves to their squad. Last summer Giovanni Leoni was signed for £26million but was injured early in the campaign, which has cost him the entire season. The Reds also beat Chelsea in the race to sign Jeremy Jacquet. He will arrive in the summer after costing £55m.

Slot though has been adamant that he wants to keep Konate, even though he's been open about his mistakes earlier this season. The Frenchman copped his fair share of criticism, but the Liverpool boss believes his errors were excessively highlighted.

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“It’s just as good from him as from Virgil [van Dijk],” he said previously. “Ibou has had a very good spell recently. He had a lot of good games earlier in the season but then he was also part of the reason why we conceded a goal.

“His general performances were good but then a small mistake he made immediately led to a goal and so he was judged differently. But he is having a very good partnership with Virgil since I’ve been here and, just like Virgil, he has always been fit. Touch wood. These two are vital for us, not only because of the quality they have but because of the lack of options we have behind.”