Ibrahima Konate says he’s ‘close to an agreement’ with Liverpool over new contract

“For sure there is a big chance I’m here next season. This is what I always wanted. I’m waiting to sort the contract but when everything is sorted you will have to ask [sporting director] Richard Hughes what I said to him in September, November and he’s going to say something to make everyone quiet.

“Yes [it’s taken a long time] but this is a negotiation. With Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah last season it was exactly the same. I think they signed the contract in April and this is maybe how the club want it.”

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Konate’s update comes as a big relief after much uncertainty

With Konate himself publicly declaring that a new deal is close to being agreed, Liverpool fans can finally rest easy over the 26-year-old’s future, which for a long time had seemed anything but certain.

David Lynch had reported of an ‘initial impasse’ between player and club in negotiations, but it’d now appear that the relevant parties have worked through those and should soon arrive at a mutually satisfactory conclusion.

The Frenchman has shipped some scathing criticism over his performances this season, some of which have been rather unconvincing, but he remains a vital presence in Arne Slot’s side with his high-level experience and his near-constant availability in a campaign which has been dogged by defensive injuries at Anfield.

As Konate rightly pointed out, it wasn’t until this time last year that Van Dijk and Salah penned new contracts when their respective deals were on the verge of expiry, so it’s become a recurring theme for such situations at Liverpool to go down to the wire.

It’ll come as a relief to the France international, to the powerbrokers at LFC and to the wider fan base that his future finally seems to be accelerating towards a resolution which’ll keep him at the club for his prime footballing years, and an official announcement would appear to be not too far away.