Defender to earn in excess of €100m as part of Real Madrid agreement | OneFootball

Earlier this week, Florentino Perez confirmed that Ibrahima Konate would join Real Madrid if he was re-elected as president. The defender, who will leave Liverpool as a free agent at the end of the month, has agreed a four-year deal with the Bernabeu club, which will become active at the start of July, when he’s likely to still be at the 2026 World Cup with France.

Konate had been on Real Madrid’s radar as early as last summer, and despite ruling him out as a target in November, they went back to him in recent weeks when it became clear that he would be leaving Liverpool. In the end, Perez’s candidacy moved quickly to secure an agreement, which will be finalise in the event that he wins Sunday’s presidential election against Enrique Riquelme.

Given that Konate will arrive as a free agent, it’s no surprise that his contract at Real Madrid will be very lucrative. El Desmarque (via CaughtOffside) have revealed details of the agreement between the defender and Perez, which will see him earn a gross salary of €24m per season (€96m in total if he stays for the duration of his four-year deal).

Konate will also receive eye-watering signing-on fee

On top of this, Konate will receive a signing-on bonus to the tune of €19.5m, which Perez is comfortably paying knowing that he has saved on a transfer fee. Nevertheless, it would be an expensive operation for Real Madrid, especially if it is indeed true that they are in the midst of a financial crisis.

There will be pressure on Konate to hit the ground running at Real Madrid, if/when he does join in the summer. He struggled during his final season at Liverpool, and he cannot be allowed to perform at that level if he wants to be a consistent starter in the Spanish capital.