Xavi believes Ibrahima Konaté has been one of the best at the World Cup. The Barcelona manager is impressed with the Liverpool player.
Barcelona manager, Xavi answered a quick Q+A for FIFA this weekend, where he gave some opinions on the World Cup. The most skilful player at the tournament in his eyes? He goes for Pedri and Jamal Musiala. Admittedly, there is a slight bias here – Pedri gets two shoutouts from his manager.
One notable opinion was on the best centre-backs at the tournament so far. Xavi names Ibrahima Konaté in his pairing – not bad for a player with four international caps.
“Now, in my opinion, [Dayot] Upamecano and Konaté,” says the legendary midfielder.
Ibrahima Konaté at the World Cup
We didn’t actually expect Konaté to go to the tournament this winter. He only had two France caps, both earned this year, and barely played for Liverpool this season. Injuries have kept him out and he couldn’t possibly be firing at his best.
Still, Didier Deschamps picked him, saying, “you’re not a starter at that age in a Liverpool team which were European champions by accident,” in a press conference.
Konaté then started France’s opener and gave a good accounting of himself. He bowed out of the XI for Raphael Varane in their next game – but still got on the pitch in the second half.
And the Liverpool player has quite clearly impressed Xavi. It sounds like he’s picked his best pairing rather than two players, but it shows just how high Konaté’s star is rising.
Liverpool have a special talent here and one who could form the backbone of their defence for a decade. Honestly, we can’t imagine a more perfect successor to Virgil van Dijk – and that’s as high a compliment as we can give.
Hopefully, Konaté gets more opportunities to impress because he’s quickly becoming one of the best in the world.
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