Liverpool give Ibrahima Konate contract ultimatum | OneFootball

The defender signed a five-year contract when he joined the club from RB Leipzig for £35m back in 2021. But that deal expires at the end of the current season - and right now things aren’t looking so positive over a renewal.

Sporting director Richard Hughes is reported to have made several offers to the 26-year-old but no agreement has yet been announced.

Konate is making around £140k per week and a renewal is expected to cost Liverpool somewhere in the region of £200k per week.

Konate rejects contract offer reports

Of course that pay bump is preferable to losing Konate for nothing - with both Real Madrid and Bayern Munich emerging as genuine candidates to sign the centre-back on a Bosman next summer.

Last week Konate REJECTED claims that a new offer had been sent across his desk - stating that talks would continue with club officials.

However it now appears that time is running out for the France international to make up his mind.

Sign or be sold - Liverpool tell Konate

That’s because Bayern insider Christian Falk is reporting that the Premier League champions are prepared to sell Konate in January if he won’t sign a new contract.

“Konate knows that Liverpool would like to sell him if he’s not prepared to sign a new contract, so he has to decide now,” the report reads.

That leaves Konate with a little over a month to decide his future otherwise Liverpool may well consider letting him go in winter.

© IMAGO - Ibrahima Konate Liverpool

Liverpool require a Konate replacement - who could it be?

Quite where that would leave Arne Slot’s centre-back options is currently unknown. Right now he’s only got Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Konate as his disposal with Giovanni Leoni out injured.

Therefore if Konate is sold mid-season then Liverpool would be destined to acquire a new signing in the position.

We could see the club redouble their efforts to sign Marc Guehi or else they might test the resolve of Borussia Dortmund for Nico Schlotterbeck.

Alessandro Bastoni of Inter is another option but it’s unlikely that the Italian giants will sell in winter.