Liverpool's massive new transfer plan brings SIGNIFICANT change | OneFootball

Liverpool are reportedly aiming for something different. A significant change is on the way with massive new transfer plans.

Ibrahima Konate's contract with Liverpool expires at the end of the season. It's a difficult situation with an unclear answer right now.

Liverpool undoubtedly want to keep Konate but they're not willing to break their wage budget to make that happen. Konate has interest from Real Madrid, however, and it's thought competition in the centre-back will skyrocket if he does enter the final six months of his contract.

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And so the Reds need to entertain the idea of replacing Konate - and doing so without an incoming transfer fee. There are solid options with which to do that, though, and Marc Guehi is one of them.

However, another option is on the table and there's increasingly prominent reports suggesting it could happen. Dayot Upamecano is out of contract at Bayern Munich this summer and Liverpool have their eyes on him.

Upamecano would be a very interesting signing and one who potentially transforms Liverpool, if they make it happen. Especially if he replaces Konate.

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Dayot Upamecano vs Ibrahima Konate

Konate is a dominant defender. The Frenchman won 71 per cent of his aerial duels last season - the 6th-best in the Premier League. 4th-best if you only count players who played at least as many minutes as he did.

This season he's actually bettering that rate with 75 per cent and the only defender (to have faced at least 10 duels) beating him is Virgil van Dijk. Konate is, essentially, exactly what Liverpool want.

He wins his duels, completes his passes, and possesses the pace to cover his right-back. No, he's not on Van Dijk's level but absolutely no one is.

So it's interesting to see what Upamecano would bring. For instance, he doesn't win anywhere near Konate's rate in the air - the Liverpool star's worst-ever rate for a season is 64 per cent and Upamecano hasn't even achieved that since 2019.

What Liverpool would get with Upamecano, however, is a much more aggressive player on the ball. You can see that just in their passing numbers.

Konate, for instance, averaged 60 completed passes last season. A solid number and he typically completes 90 per cent of those he attempts.

Upamecano? 92 completed passes per 90 and at a higher completion rate. Now, your instinct there is likely that the Bayern star simply attempts safer passes and while he does average 10 more short passes per 90 than his international teammate, he also completes 20 more over medium range and doubles Konate's efforts over long range.

And again, all of this is at a higher completion rate than Konate. Bayern get over seven long balls per 90 out of Upamecano, while Liverpool get three out of their man.

This translates really well into the game, too. It means Upamecano delivers an average of 10 progressions into the final third per 90 while Konate typically does that five times.

Now, part of this is playing style but Bayern and Liverpool aren't wildly dissimilar in that. And when the pair were at RB Leipzig together, the story was the same.

Upamecano much prefers to be forward-thinking on the ball. The pair averaged the same number of touches in the defensive third last season but Bayern's defender averaged 20 more in midfield than Konate.

The big question, then, is whether this is good for Liverpool. We'd argue it is, as the Reds are finding themselves pushed further and further back this season as teams appear more confident pressing them.

Upamecano is a fix for that, even if Liverpool would need to give up some solidity for it. But you can argue both sides here - there's a solid argument that the Reds would in fact benefit from games being a little more open than they currently are.

But this isn't to say that Liverpool should bin off Konate and target Upamecano. We'd prefer the Liverpool star to stay at Anfield, honestly.

The Reds aren't in control of that, however, and if he does decide to leave the club, moving for Upamecano as a replacement and trying something new sounds like an exciting idea. It would be a significant change but possibly a very positive one.