Huge new development as Liverpool confident of completing crucial deal | OneFootball

Liverpool fans will be relieved to hear there have reportedly been positive developments on the future of star centre-back Ibrahima Konate.

The France international is in the final year of his contract at Anfield, and this has led to plenty of speculation over his future.

It seems, however, that Liverpool are now confident of keeping Konate on a new deal, according to Defensa Central.

The report states that this has led Real Madrid to look at other options instead, with the piece listing players like Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi and Nottingham Forest’s Murillo as alternatives.

This could end up being a big boost for Liverpool as it would stop them having to enter the market for a new defender themselves.

Keeping Ibrahima Konate is the best option for Liverpool

Ibrahima Konate of Liverpool in action vs Newcastle (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)

Konate has been a rock solid partner alongside Virgil van Dijk for Liverpool for the last few years, and it would surely be hard to find a replacement for the 26-year-old.

It’s easy to imagine Konate being a fine signing for Real Madrid, but perhaps they’re no longer optimistic that a deal can be done.

Signing Konate on a free would have been superb business, but it seems like there’ll be other options available to them.

Liverpool hoping to avoid another Real Madrid raid

LFC fans will have bad memories when it comes to players coming towards the end of their contracts, as they ended up losing Trent Alexander-Arnold to Real Madrid this year.

The England international ran down his deal and ultimately swapped Anfield for the Bernabeu, so it could be that Konate would be tempted to do the same.

We’ll have to see how this saga develops, but this latest update perhaps suggests Liverpool now have more hope of holding on to this particular contract rebel.