For Liverpool fans wondering how good a signing Ibrahima Konate could be, it should be reassuring how much RB Leipzig wanted him to stay in Germany.
Speaking last month, Leipzig sporting director Markus Krosche tried to dampen down talk of a transfer. “He has a long contract with us and he knows what we mean to him and what he means to us,” he said. “He is an extremely important player that has a lot of potential.
“We want to help him to develop further, we play in Europe and have a very good team, so I don’t see a reason for him to leave us.”
Only a couple of weeks back, Leipzig CEO Oliver Mintzlaff made it clear that he had not given up on the idea of hanging onto Konate. “No decision has been made yet,” he told Sky Germany. “There is an exit clause, that’s why we don’t sit in the driver’s seat. He is a player we want to keep.”
Unfortunately for Leipzig, Konate’s mind was already made up. Liverpool have triggered his release clause – variously estimated at €35m (£30.1m) or €41m (£35.2m) – and, subject to international clearance and him getting a work permit, it’s officially a done deal.
On talent alone, Konate’s appeal is obvious. Having turned 22 earlier this week, he has 94 appearances for Leipzig under his belt and is rated as one of the most exciting young defenders in the Bundesliga.
He is set to contest the knockout stages of the Under-21s European Championships with France, having become a regular for Les Bleus at youth level. Born in Paris, nicknamed “Ibou” by his mum, he learned to play football on the street with his six brothers.
“Ibou” has stuck and is still used by his teammates at Leipzig. It’s a bit incongruous, given that the little boy who cut his teeth in those street kickabouts is now used to being one of the most imposing players on the pitch.
Standing at 6 feet 4 inches, Konate combines aerial dominance with an impressive passing range, deceptive agility and a surprising turn of pace. Of the 21 games in which he’s featured this season, Leipzig have only lost three.
Given how many Liverpool players have been sidelined in recent months, however, it’s understandable that there has been some anxiety over his injury history. In a normal season, he’d expect to make more than 21 appearances.
This is the second season where Konate’s momentum has been disrupted by fitness issues. It was even worse last time out, with a hip injury he picked up in October 2019 limiting him to 11 appearances in all competitions.
When Liverpool’s interest in signing Konate this summer first became apparent, there was a spate of stories which used the dreaded term “injury-prone”. In the midst of a season in which Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip had become long-term absentees, it rang alarm bells and, before long, his injury history was a source of feverish debate on Twitter.
Many of those stories cited Transfermarkt as evidence, with three “torn muscle fibre” injuries listed on the website accounting for 36 missed games between October 2019 and October 2020. Something had been lost in translation, though: those were three occurrences of the same problem, the hip injury which saw him miss so much of last season.
There’s no doubt it was a serious setback for him. While he was initially sidelined for seven months, he then suffered another flare-up which required him to undergo surgery last July. That saw him miss the beginning of the season, but he has not had issues with his hip since. While he was given some time to regain match fitness, his only hitch this term was a separate ankle injury which kept him out between December and February.
While he’s certainly been unlucky with his fitness over the last two seasons, it would be misleading to call him “injury-prone”. In essence, he suffered one serious injury which kept him out for a year – something which can happen to literally any player – and then an unrelated knock which cost him more game time.
There is little evidence to suggest he is more susceptible to injury than anyone else and, at 22, he has plenty of time to rediscover his rhythm. While he may well have hoped for more minutes over the last couple of years, he’s now in a position to get them.
It’s telling that Jurgen Klopp has admitted to monitoring Konate’s development since his time at Sochaux, where he made his breakthrough as a teenager. This is not an ad hoc defensive signing like those made in February or a deal born out of convenience.
Klopp certainly doesn’t seem worried about Konate’s injury record. “I am confident we are signing a player who can play for us right away,” he told the Liverpool website. “He is a boy of 22 years of age who has room to improve because of his massive potential.”
Injuries aside, Leipzig wanted to keep him for a reason. Speaking after the deal was announced, commercial director Florian Scholz admitted that they were losing a “top defender”.
That top defender has what it takes to be a success at Anfield where, alongside a recovered Van Dijk, he should form one half of a formidable defensive partnership next season. Likewise, after two frustrating years, he will need no further motivation to make his mark in England.
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