Report: Arne Slot has sent FSG a very firm message regarding ‘monster’ Liverpool player | OneFootball

According to reports from Spain, Arne Slot has sent a very clear message to the Liverpool hierarchy regarding one player in his current squad.

In the last three months, there has been a spate of departures from the group which romped to Premier League title glory last season, with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Caoimhin Kelleher, Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez among those to have left.

However, there’s one man in particular who the head coach is seemingly quite eager to keep at Anfield, amid much speculation over a potential exit in the foreseeable future.

Last month, David Lynch claimed that Real Madrid would like to sign Ibrahima Konate, who’s now into the final year of his contract and is reportedly nowhere near agreeing a renewal with Liverpool.

Slot urges FSG to go all-out to keep Konate

As per Defensa Central, Los Blancos continue to take a strong interest in the 26-year-old, so much so that they were even prepared to give up their 50% stake in Real Sociedad forward Takefusa Kubo (who’d been linked with the Reds) if it meant signing the Frenchman.

However, Slot has implored the board of directors at Anfield to put in an ‘extra effort’ to prevent the towering centre-back from leaving the club in the next 12 months.

(Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)

Liverpool could do without another contractual soap opera this season

The contract situations of Alexander-Arnold, Mo Salah and Virgil van Dijk cast a shadow over much of the title-winning season…will we have to endure a similar soap opera with Konate during the 2025/26 campaign?

His current weekly wage of £70,000 is among the lower end of the pay scale at Liverpool (Capology), which seems all the more surprising when you consider that he started 30 Premier League matches las term and has been hailed by Eurosport writer Martin Mosnier as a ‘monster‘ defender.

The Frenchman was savaged by Jamie Carragher on Sky Sports over his ‘really poor‘ performance against Bournemouth last week, and our number 5 was admittedly left trailing in Antonine Semenyo’s wake for the second-half equaliser.

However, Konate – like the rest of his teammates – must still be reeling from the tragic loss of a dear friend in Diogo Jota just a few weeks ago, and it shouldn’t be forgotten that he was immense alongside Van Dijk during the title-winning season.

Slot knows the 26-year-old’s qualities having now worked with him for nearly 15 months, and Liverpool would be foolish to simply let him run down his contract unless his demands are completely unreasonable.

Hopefully FSG will take the head coach’s pleas on board and all parties involved will soon be able to reach an agreement to keep the defender at Anfield for another few years.