Liverpool issue ‘final ultimatum’ with Reds to ‘submit bid’ for PL star in January on one condition | OneFootball

According to reports, Liverpool have issued a ‘final transfer ultimatum’ to Ibrahima Konate and they will sign a replacement in January on one condition.

Liverpool are expected to be active in the transfer market in the next two windows as their dire performances this season have made it clear that they are lacking in certain positions.

Their priorities will be to sign a centre-back and a winger as they need to land long-term replacements for Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah, though they could also opt to replace other underperforming players.

Last season, the Reds were comfortably the best team in the Premier League, and they won their 20th title at a canter while capitalising on Arsenal and Manchester City’s struggles.

Head coach Arne Slot got the best out of Jurgen Klopp’s squad, so it was somewhat surprising that the Reds decided to sanction a huge squad overhaul in the summer as the Dutchman built his own team.

Liverpool were comfortably the biggest spenders in Europe in the summer as they invested over £400m on their signings. They broke the British transfer record twice to sign Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz, while they also invested heavily to sign Hugo Ekitike, Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez and Giovanni Leoni.

These signings filled the void left by Trent Alexander-Arnold, Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez, Jarell Quansah and Harvey Elliott, but there are currently major question marks over this recruitment.

The champions appear to have made too many changes in a single window as they have severely lacked cohesion with a new-look midfield, while most of their key players have performed poorly.

This has contributed to Liverpool’s inconsistency, with Slot’s side losing five of their opening eleven Premier League games this season. They currently sit eighth in the table and have already exited the title race. 

MORE LIVERPOOL COVERAGE ON F365… 👉 Wirtz ‘doesn’t care’ about Liverpool criticism as Neville has ‘no idea’ what he’s talking about 👉 Liverpool copying Man Utd as Wirtz and Isak are new Antony and Maguire 👉 Wirtz hailed for two damning ‘positives’ as Liverpool star ‘keeps his mouth shut’

Looking ahead, Crystal Palace and England star Marc Guehi is likely to remain their leading centre-back target after a move fell through in the summer, while Bournemouth standout Antoine Semenyo has been mentioned as a possible replacement for Salah.

Now, a report from a respected account on X with over 680k followers and a ‘team of five elite reporters’ claims they will ‘submit a bid’ to sign Guehi in January after sending Konate a clear message ahead of his contract expiry in 2026.

In a report for Caught Offside, the outlet added: ‘Liverpool are not prepared to allow this saga to drag on for much longer, and are ready to cash in on Konate and replace him with Marc Guehi this January.

‘Liverpool have made another contract offer to Konate, but they will not make Konate another offer if he turns this one down, with the club feeling this latest proposal would make the player one of their highest earners.’

As for Guehi, ex-Liverpool star Don Hutchinson has explained why he thinks his former club have “blown their chances” of signing the centre-back.

“They’ve blown their chances of landing him. One million per cent,” Hutchinson told Sportscasting.com.

“I mean, I’d love to be a fly on the wall at Liverpool when they didn’t get the Guehi deal done.

“Let’s just say Crystal Palace wanted £45 million. Liverpool should have given them £50m, because they’re going to have Marc Guehi for six years. They should have just paid the money.”