Konate’s agent ‘holding out’ for Real Madrid as fresh ‘sticking point’ emerges in Liverpool talks | OneFootball

There is a fresh ‘sticking point’ between Ibrahima Konate and Liverpool with claims his agent is waiting for Real Madrid to make a serious move.

Konate has been in poor form for much of the season with ther Frenchman feeling the strain of having little back-up behind him if he suffers from injury or suspension.

A season-ending injury to summer signing Giovanni Leoni and Crystal Palace pulling out of a deal to sell Marc Guehi, has left Liverpool in a vulnerable position at centre-back for much of the season.

Konate’s form may have suffered for that with Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher insisting that the France international “makes a mistake every game”.

And now there are doubts over Konate’s future at Anfield with The Athletic‘s David Ornstein revealing recently that contract talks had reached “an impasse”.

While Romano had to climb down from saying a deal between Liverpool and Konate was advancing to insist that there is now a hold up over “small details”.

Romano said on his YouTube channel: “Why the new contract is not official yet? How is the status? Let me clarify something. Last week I told you guys that the deal is advancing to the final stages between Ibrahima Konate and Liverpool but it’s not done yet.

“Done means agreed, signed, approved by lawyers on club and player side, and that’s not the case yet. Why advanced? Because the numbers of the contract are almost okay when it’s about the salary.

“So the agreement on those numbers are quite okay. But there are some small details, but still important to clarify between Konate and Liverpool.

“And those details are regarding some clauses into the contract. I’m not talking about release clauses. I’m talking about specific clauses that they are discussing Liverpool and Ibrahima Konate.

“Clauses into the contract can be, for example, the bonuses linked to trophies and these sort of things. So the guaranteed salary is almost okay but there are some clauses to clarify.

“That’s why the new contract is still not green light signed tomorrow. That’s the point. But advancing to important stages in the recent weeks. So let’s wait for the outcome of these details before we know what’s going to happen with Ibrahima Konate.”

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Is Konate’s agent holding out for Real Madrid?

And now former Everton CEO Keith Wyness suspects the Liverpool defender’s agent is waiting for Real Madrid and other clubs to come in as the length of the deal is currently proving to be an unexpected issue.

Wyness told Football Insider: “Konate got himself back into form. He did start to become a very valuable player, but then, he suffered from the whole squad in terms of the way that they’ve underperformed.

“You can’t pin it on him specifically. There’s talk as to whether they’ve actually reached agreement. Apparently the sticking point is now the length of the contract. The agent, I’m sure, is still holding out for other clubs, claiming Real Madrid are still interested.

“He may have other options, but it would be best for him to stay at Liverpool if they can come to this agreement. But, there’s something just not sitting right about how this should have been done and handled. We’ve seen how Arsenal have handled deals quickly and got the contract deals over the line very quickly during the season.

“I don’t know why Liverpool are sticking for this one so long. These negotiations in an atmosphere that Liverpool are in right now, and the way things aren’t going right, makes it a little bit harder. If they really want him, they should have got it done. But, the player might be thinking, do I really want to stay here again?

“The longer it goes on, I’m surprised that they’re not resolving it. It just shows that people aren’t 100% sure on either side that this is what they want. That’s what would worry me if I was chief executive.”