Ibrahima Konaté confirms he is close to finalizing a contract extension with Liverpool..

The Liverpool ECHO reported on Monday that Liverpool's France international center-back Ibrahima Konaté has confirmed that he is close to finalizing a contract extension with the club.

According to the report, Konaté made the statement during a post-Merseyside derby interview. He said despite numerous speculation surrounding his future, he has never given up on negotiations with Liverpool regarding a contract extension, and now both parties have finally made a significant breakthrough, bringing him close to finalizing the agreement.

Konaté said, "My future? To be fair, there are always a lot of different opinions and speculations about this, but I've had a long negotiation with the club, and the result is that we are close to reaching an agreement."

Furthermore, the newspaper's resident renowned Liverpool team correspondent, Paul Gorst, added that Konaté has reached an agreement with Liverpool on his new wage and contract length. Only some performance-related clauses and bonuses remain to be finalized, but it is believed that the contract extension will be completed before the end of this season.

With Konaté's statement, all rumours surrounding his impending free transfer to Real Madrid have been dispelled.

This also eliminates any speculation that he might join Paris Saint-Germain.

About Ibrahima Konaté

The 26-year-old Konaté was born on May 25, 1999, in Paris, France. He is 1.94 meters tall ande plays as a center-back. He holds dual French and Malian citizenship.

Konaté joined the youth academy of his hometown club, Paris FC, at the age of 10. Five years later, he moved to Sochaux's youth academy, making his first-team debut in February 2017 at the age of 17.

After his contract expired in July of the same year, Konaté joined RB Leipzig on a free transfer.

During his four-year spell at Leipzig, Konaté helped the team reach the DFB-Pokal final twice.

In July 2021, Konaté joined Liverpool for £36 million.

Since joining the Reds, Konaté has made 178 appearances for Liverpool in all competitions, scoring 7 goals and providing 4 assists. He has won one Premier League title, one FA Cup, one Community Shield, and two Carabao Cups with the team, as well as reaching the Champions League final once.

Image source: Internet / Liverpool ECHO