The Reds have already made five new signings in the summer transfer window with Florian Wirtz, Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong headlining the new additions.
Liverpool are throwing their weight behind Arne Slot in the summer transfer market after the Dutchman won the Premieer League title in his first season.
After providing some early incomings, Liverpool could now turn to outgoings with Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz and Konate among the players linked with moves away from Anfield.
Konate has reportedly rejected two new contract offers with multiple reports coming out of Spain claiming Real Madrid are now looking to get serious with their interest in the France international.
And now Spanish website Fichajes has claimed that Konate ‘wants to play’ for Real Madrid with only a year remaining on his deal at Liverpool.
It is understood that his stance has ‘set off alarm bells’ at Liverpool with board hoping to count on him for the future – but Konate ‘dreams of wearing the Real Madrid shirt’.
Despite rumours that they could meet Liverpool’s €50m (£43m) asking price this summer, the report adds that ‘everything indicates that the player will wait until the end of his contract is approaching before negotiating freely’.
In a separate report from the same outlet, Real Madrid are said to have ‘set its sights’ on Liverpool midfielder Mac Allister but the Reds have ‘set a high price for his transfer, around €100m (£87m), a figure that Real Madrid considers high and could complicate the deal’.
Mac Allister has ‘appeared comfortable at Liverpool and hasn’t given any clear signs of wanting to leave’ but Real Madrid’s ‘interest has not waned’ and are willing to include young players like Arda Guler in the deal.
The Athletic’s James Pearce reckons Konate was “back to his brilliant best” last season under Slot but that his contract situation at Anfield is “going under the radar”.
Pearce said in May on the Walk On podcast: “Yeah, he has been back to his brilliant best. He had a real wobble towards the end of the Jurgen Klopp era. Jarell Quansah was regularly starting games ahead of him. He had a real shocker in the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park last April. It was weird to see because you thought, ‘How has he managed to lose his way to this extent?’.
“He has benefitted from this new era, the freshness, the attention to detail and Arne Slot’s tactical acumen and man-management. It has all helped to get him back to the level we knew he could reach.
“Andy [Jones] spoke before about the new regime being able to keep players fit for longer. Konate is a good example of that — he has suffered just one injury this season. He’s been brilliant.
“One thing that is probably going under the radar is his contract situation. There’s been so much focus on Van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold but Konate is not far behind in urgency — come the summer, he’ll be down to his last year.
“He’s only 25, so his best years are still ahead. His contract needs to be addressed because it would be very difficult and very expensive to find someone as commanding and dominant in that back line as Konate has been for Liverpool this season.”
