Elite Premier League defender wanted by Chelsea as contract crunch arrives | OneFootball

Liverpool’s contract situation this summer is well known – Mo Salah, Virgil Van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold are all coming to the end of their deals and could all leave for free.

That’s hardly great news, and things could get worse for the Reds.

TBR Football today report that there are “growing concerns” at Anfield about Ibrahima Konate, who is now into the final 18 months of his contract and will be into his final year come the summer.

They’re desperate to keep Virgil Van Dijk, but losing his partner Konate would be just as bad given he’s just 25 and seen as Van Dijk’s natural successor. PSG have also been linked with the Parisian born defender.

Chelsea would dearly love to add an experienced, top level defender, but it’s not clear if he would favour a move to Stamford Bridge. The Reds can offer him a better chance of winning trophies at the moment, and it’s not like our new wage structure is going to allow us to blow them out of the water on wages either.

Chelsea and other top teams monitor contract talks

Ibrahima Konate playing for Liverpool. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

In any case, running down your deal is usually the smart move for a player, and the Frenchman is doing just that. He “rebuffed Liverpool’s opening offers” at the end of last year, and while talks continue there have been no breakthroughs.

Whether Chelsea end up as one of the serious contenders for his signatures remains to be seen – we’ll just have to see where we stand come next January, when teams will be able to approach him.

Chelsea were linked with Konate when he was a Leipzig player back in 2021, but in the end Liverpool won the race. Could they turn up winners on the second time around?