What Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konate said in the dressing room before captaining France for the first time

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Liverpool already have a large number of true leaders within their first-team.

Impressively, the Reds can count five international captains within their ranks, along with senior players such as Alisson Becker.

There is a possibility that five will soon become six, with Ibrahima Konate now firmly in the running to take over as permanent France captain.

Reports claim that French coaches have been impressed with Konate’s leadership during the November international break.

With regular captain Kylian Mbappe choosing not to play, the Liverpool centre-back was handed the armband from the start of a game for the very first time on Monday as France played Italy.

And before Konate led Les Bleus to a 3-1 win at San Siro, he was filmed rousing the troops in the dressing room pre-game.

Ibrahima Konate shows leadership qualities

Konate has been magnificent this season. After a disappointing end to last term, the 25-year-old has bounced back in brilliant fashion.

Ibou has clearly learned a lot from Virgil van Dijk on the pitch and he is about the best partner the Liverpool captain could hope for.

However, there are now obvious signs that Konate is learning from Van Dijk away from the field, too.

Judging by Konate’s words and manner in the dressing room in the build up to Monday’s game, the No.5 is a natural born leader.

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“Come on guys, set-pieces, in defence and attack. Lucas [Digne] knows what he has to do,” Konate begins, before goalkeeper Mike Maignan takes over, urging the French players to take revenge on Italy for beating them in Paris in September.

“Guys, there’s a first-place finish up for grabs tonight too,” Konate adds. “First place means that in the next round, boys, the second-leg will be at home. That’s what’s important too, guys.

“But today it’s all about revenge. Revenge, revenge, revenge.”

Ibrahima Konate could be a future Liverpool captain

With so much uncertainty at the moment, there’s a chance that Liverpool will be looking for both a new captain and a vice-captain next summer.

Van Dijk could yet leave on a free transfer, while Trent Alexander-Arnold is also currently set to depart. That will leave a big void needing to be filled. Thankfully, there are candidates within the Liverpool squad who could step forward.

Alisson hailed Alexis Mac Allister’s leadership qualities recently and revealed that the 25-year-old has been added to the senior group.

But if Mac Allister is showing himself to be a potential Liverpool captain, then Konate’s actions for France certainly mark him out, too.

It will be a shock to the system if the Reds lose leaders such as Van Dijk, Trent and Mohamed Salah this summer. But with characters like Konate around, they are in a good place to pick up the slack.