Pundit blown away by ‘exceptional’ Liverpool player’s recent displays for his country

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Ibrahima Konate has been ‘exceptional’ for France recently and has a huge future in the national team.

That’s the view of former Les Bleus midfielder Frank LeBeouf. As a World Cup winner in France’s 1998 team, LeBeouf was asked on ESPN FC to name any of the current crop who could slot into that famous side.

After instantly naming Kylian Mbappe, LeBeouf was then left a little at a loss. Finally, he decided that Konate, as well as Bayern Munich’s Dayot Upamecano were in with a shout.

“To talk about Upamecano and Konate we have to wait a little bit, but what they’ve done the last two games was exceptional,” said the pundit.

“So, they have a great future and hopefully they’re going to do something. But otherwise, I don’t see anybody, really. Maybe Mike Maignan.”

Konate earns plaudits back home

Having had an impressive World Cup with France, Konate is now really beginning to be noticed back in his homeland. Over the March international break he resumed his former RB Leipzig partnership with Upamecano to great effect.

LeBeouf’s former France and Chelsea colleague Marcel Desailly gave a similarly glowing critique of the pair. Desailly even went as far as saying that Konate and Upacmecano could become Les Bleus’ greatest ever centre-back partnership.

So, despite plenty of competition from the likes of Arsenal star William Saliba, Konate seems to have sown up his spot.

And as coach Didier Deschamps has shown over recent years, if you’re a favourite of his, you tend to stay in the team.

From a Liverpool point of view, this can only be good news. Some supporters prefer to see Reds players overlooked by their national sides in a bid to be more fresh for the club. But we think that’s counterproductive.

With France always in the mix for the game’s biggest honours, it’s great to see a Liverpool player at the forefront of it. Since arriving at Anfield, Konate has proven himself to be one of the most promising defenders in world football. Barring injury, he will surely become that. Exciting times ahead for Ibou, Liverpool and France.

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