Ibrahima Konate said no to a big offer from Real Madrid to join them for free.
Ibrahima Konate has reached a verbal agreement to join Real Madrid after turning down a big offer from another club. Konate, who joined Liverpool from RB Leipzig in 2021, couldn’t agree on a new contract as talks went on for a while.
The French defender’s current deal ends this summer, and Liverpool recently confirmed he won’t be staying at Anfield. On Instagram, Konate shared that he was “deeply saddened” he didn’t get the chance to say goodbye to the fans at the last game, as he didn’t know it would be his final time wearing the Liverpool shirt.
Things are moving fast with his next step. Reporter Fabrizio Romano says Konate has agreed to join Real Madrid, ready to sign a four-year contract if Florentino Perez is re-elected as president.
At first, Real wasn’t planning to sign him because of a dip in form, but now they see him as a top target for Jose Mourinho’s second spell as coach. Konate had other big offers, including from Saudi Arabia, but chose Real instead. Journalist Ben Jacobs says that Saudi club Al Ittihad was interested, but Konate will join his former Liverpool teammate Trent Alexander-Arnold in Madrid.
The deal won’t be finalized until after Real’s presidential election on Sunday, but talks had already taken place before and have recently picked up again. Mike McGrath from The Telegraph adds that Konate “decided to walk away” from Liverpool for a new challenge, even though he was “close to an agreement” back in April.
During his time at Liverpool, Konate played 183 games and helped the team win the Premier League, FA Cup, and two Carabao Cups.