Out of contract after leaving Liverpool just over a week ago, the Hexagon footballer is close to locking horns with the multiple Spanish champions.
Ibrahima Konate has integrated well at FC Liverpool (Photo: EPAImages)
Reales on the night of Sunday to Monday at the head of the Real Madrid club, the president Florentino Perez had declared on June 3 that Ibrahima Konate would be his first acquisition, making, at the same time, the promise of the arrival of coach Jose Mourinho. Of course, if he will be re-elected. Which is what happened. And apparently, the Spanish businessman will keep his word.
The 27-year-old France international, called up for the World Cup starting in a few days in Canada, Mexico and the USA, joined Liverpool from RB Leipzig in 2021 for £36m. The English outfit and the French player had reportedly reached an agreement in principle on a long-term contract extension. Konaté was also looking for a property in England.
The deal with Liverpool fell through
But in just a few weeks the deal fell through. And this because Liverpool is affected by internal disagreements. According to the website of the daily “LEquipe”, “Richard Hughes, the sporting director, is quietly negotiating his departure to Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, the project led by Arne Slot, against the background of poor results at the end of the season, has been the subject of much criticism. This sporting context and these internal conflicts led to the dismissal of the Dutchman and the appointment of Andoni Iraola, who, however, had agreed to Crystal Palace just two weeks before.”
In these circumstances, Konaté's departure from Liverpool was announced last week. Which piqued the interest of other teams. And Real Madrid is among them. Especially since the Spanish group prefers to transfer footballers free of contract.
He contested the 2022 WC final
Ibrahima Konate is also an important player of the French team (Photo: EPAImages)
Born on May 25, 1999 in Paris, Ibrahima Konate made his professional football debut for Sochaux in a 0-1 Ligue 2 loss against Auxerre on February 7, 2017. He was 17 years old at the time. Specializing in the central defender position, he also played for Leipzig (2017-2021) before joining Liverpool. For “Cormorani” he played 118 matches and scored 2 goals. He made 27 appearances for the first team of France. At the 2022 World Cup, he played in the final, and in the 2024/2025 League of Nations, he took 3rd place.
