I love Ibrahima Konate; the man is a brick wall in defence. He’s big, strong, aggressive in the tackle, and has a Joel Matip-esq skill when bringing the ball out from the back. One of my favourite moments of recent years was watching Konate throw Manchester Utd midfielder Fred around like a pizza base at Dominos. But despite my Konate man crush, I believe he will start next season under new boss Arne Slot as the club's third-choice centre-back due to the rise of Jarell Quansah.
A massive question for Arne Slot at Liverpool: Konate or Quansah?
For years Liverpool fans have had to listen about the club’s academy saving us millions in the transfer market. It was usually a line rolled out by stalwart journalists like James Pearce whenever they had to inform the fans that there was no more money to invest in the transfer market. It was a line that then became something of a stand in joke for twitter fans whenever potential transfers were discussed.
Because of this, there was a backlash when talk of a new centre-back arrival was played down in the summer of 2023. Rumours of an imminent signing persisted at some media outlets, and fans were adamant that a new body was needed in defence due to the advancing age of both Joel Matip and Virgil Van Dijk and the consistency of injuries that seemed to be hitting Ibrahima Konate.
When the line was rolled out that Quansah could be the one to step up and save us millions, the hatred towards FSG intensified. Liverpool was coming off the back of a terrible season, and strong investment was promised to help fix the problem. So, relying on a classy but vastly inexperienced defender to help with the rebuild seemed to be a cheap skate move by the much-maligned owners.
However, Jarell Quansah has been one of the standout performers of the year. Playing with a calming grace that seems to echo club captain Virgil Van Dijk, the youngster has cemented his spot in the backline at the back end of this season. So good has the young man been that I genuinely believe an England call-up won't be far away and that he will be the one to line up next to Van Dijk when the new season kicks off in August, no matter who Arne Slot brings in to replace the departing Joel Matip.