Ibrahima Konate has Liverpool revenge mission after Paris ‘dream’ turned into nightmare

Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate returns to his home city of Paris on Wednesday, as him and his team-mates face PSG in a mouthwatering Champions League last-16 tie

Ibrahima Konate grew up in Paris learning how to play the game in “cages”, sometimes playing with balls of paper held together by Sellotape and dreaming he would be a professional player one day.

He left at 14 to join Sochaux’s boarding academy and vowed to return one day as a pro. He lived out what he called a “dream” when he played in the Champions League final at the Stade de France in 2022. That turned into a nightmare when Liverpool lost 1-0 to Real Madrid and for other, more serious reasons, outside of the Saint-Denis stadium.

Now he returns again to the city where he grew up with Liverpool, this time looking for a better result when the Reds take on Paris Saint-Germain at Parc des Princes in a last-16 tie of the European Cup. Konate, 25, has matured greatly since that final when he last played here in club football.

He may be the partner of Virgil van Dijk, and thus often seen as the sidekick rather than the star defender, but he has played his part in a remarkable season which sees Liverpool racing away with the Premier League, one of the favourites for the Champions League and in a Carabao Cup final.

Konate, the son of Mali immigrants who grew up in a council estate in Paris, is now one among the top centre backs in world football. It is why his name comes up when the transfer rumour mill gets going for the likes of the team he will play tonight. But PSG sources are cool on any potential moves for the player who once called this city home.

Yet noises about his future will only grow if a new deal does not get signed. Konate revealed in January that he had an offer but he had not put pen to paper. There have been no further updates. Konate heading into the final year of his contract is something Liverpool would surely want to avoid after the drama around Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold this term.

The France defender, like Alexander-Arnold, is far from his 30s and a long-term deal is a must but the negotiations rumble on for now. He has given no indication he wants to leave but in that press conference, before a clash with Lille, he was coy when further questioned on the contract.

Where does Ibrahima Konate rank among the Premier League’s best centre-backs? Have your say in the comments section.

Konate, a £36million signing from RB Leipzig in 2021, showed his commitment to the team earlier this season when he battled back from a knee injury faster than anticipated after Joe Gomez suffered a problem which left the Reds short at the back.

Arne Slot’s side have conceded just 17 goals (16 when he was on the pitch) in the 22 Premier League games he has played in. They’ve conceded nine in the games he missed. He has won 60 aerial duels (lost 19), made over 70 clearances and won 106 of all duels out of 156. All of which stand favourable with his contemporaries given the games he has played.

So it was the Paris streets where Konate learned how to play in those metal cages and sometimes without even a proper football. He went from wanting to be Ronaldo – the Brazilian one – to being trained as a defensive midfielder and then a centre back at Sochaux.

But it is at Liverpool where he has become one of the best defenders in the world. Now they must ensure he stays there.

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