'Outstanding' Liverpool ace negotiating switch to Champions League rivals | OneFootball

Now that Arne Slot is gone, Liverpool's main objective will be to figure out who his successor is going to be.

At the moment, it feels nailed on that Andoni Iraola will be their head coach by the start of the 2026-27 season.

However, until that appointment is made, there shouldn't really be any sort of transfer movement to or from L4.

But, that hasn't stopped certain players from already negotiating their exits after what happened to them this term.

Real Madrid are 'very close' to signing Ibrahima Konate for free

If Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson leaving for free wasn't already difficult enough for Liverpool, the fact that Ibrahima Konate announced his exit last week made things 10 times harder.

The Reds were already going into the 2026-27 campaign with a depleted squad and, now that three of their mainstays have chosen to leave for nothing, they have a fair few massive gaps to fill.

Admittedly, Konate's performances weren't the best for most of the campaign but, if he had another year or so on his contract, Liverpool would have at least got a bit of money for his services.

However, now that he's left for nothing, the 'outstanding' Frenchman is free to talk to any team he wants and now, according to AS, the centre-back has already found his next home.

"Ibrahima Konaté emerges as a key figure," they wrote.

"Florentino Pérez is reportedly very close to securing the centre-back's arrival should he win the elections, and he would do so with a long-term contract of four seasons plus an additional year.

"At 27, the French international center-back has parted ways with Liverpool , who were frustrated as their contract renewal offers were systematically rejected by the robust defender raised in Paris's 13th arrondissement. Konaté isn't exactly a showman, but he has a powerful physique (he's 1.94 meters tall and weighs 95 kilos).

"Very much in the style of Toni Rüdiger.

"He's a key player for the French national team and a friend of Mbappé. In fact, Kylian, in informal conversations with club officials, has indicated that he would be a good addition to the upcoming sporting project."

Liverpool are going to have to spend a lot of money this summer

Most Liverpool fans probably thought that last seasons summer of spending would be their highest spend for the next few years.

On paper, most of the moves made sense with the Anfield outfit managing to entice some of the best players in the world to play for them.

Despite this, things just haven't gone to plan and now, they're getting left in the dust by their rivals which means that some new faces will have to come in.

But, since the club sold their most enticing players last term, there aren't that many ways for them to generate money to get those deals over the line.

A lot of questions still need to be answered this summer and whether or not the Reds will be able to afford all the players that they need is another mystery.

However, with how many players they're already being linked with, it's clear that an awful lot of money is going to be spent on bolstering Liverpool's ranks this summer.